Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UThXVCNSlyE

houdini1

My son bought a 2007 Jag XK coupe a couple of years ago, ruby red. When he visits he always drives his company car, but today he drove over from St. Louis in the Jag. I had seen pics of it before but this was the first time seeing it live in the wild. Beautiful, looks brand new. 10 years old and 56,000 miles. Oh, and the sound of that burbling V8. I'm to dumb to know how to attach a pic.

driver100

iluvmysephia1 said:

I've decided that I like this 2017 Kia Forte 6-speed stick sedan in Garnet Red. It's selling for only $13,915 at a Spokane dealer.

Other than a missing right headlight it looks pretty good, especially for that price.

Edmund's gives it a great review 4.5 out of 5. It sounds like it has a lot of electronics and the car is finished nicely. It seems it could be the best small car on the market in many ways.
EDMUND'S REVIEW

It seems price should be about $18k so $14k is excellent!

berri

NYC - Citi has a "no annual fee" card (forget the marketing name) that gives you 1% cash back at purchase and then an additional 1% back after payment. Personally, I prefer cash back flexibility, but if one of the more specialized cards works for a particular individual's situation then it probably makes sense. I don't have that Citi card so I don't know if there are any catches.

28firefighter

I'm traveling today so my response is limited, but my experience with credit cards is you need to be creative. 

I carry an American Express Platinum for the travel benefits, but put all of my spend on a Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card because I find that they have the most valuable use of points via transfer partners. If I were not Amex loyal, I'd carry a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reseve card. 

I carry a BofA Travel rewards card just so I have a Visa where Amex isn't acvepred. 

iluvmysephia1

oldfather50 - I'd better find a job before I buy anything. I'm between jobs now, but I do have 3 possibilities brewing, though.

oldfarmer50

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UThXVCNSlyE

That's interesting but I don't see it happening. If the Mechanics at work can be believed, diesels don't take to current pollution controls very well. Our buses are always having failures with those systems. We may go back to gas engines in the near future.

abacomike

iluvmysephia1 said:

oldfather50 - I'd better find a job before I buy anything. I'm between jobs now, but I do have 3 possibilities brewing, though.

Iluvmysephia1, I am praying you will find a job that fits your needs soon.  Only once in my life was I out of work - when I moved to Florida to care for my Dad.  The car-buying capital of the country was the catalyst for my entering the sales profession - luckily I was a natural - I grew up in a family that was actively engaged in the retail business world.  Dad, uncles, aunts, cousins and great uncles and grandparents all owned women's apparel retail stores.  I helped out in my Dad's stores while going to college.  I lived at home and it was my way of paying my Dad back.  I was able to go in at 6:00 PM and then close up at 9:00 PM so my Dad could have some free evenings.

That's where I learned how to "sell" and I carried that with me all my life and used those skills in the car business in my second life after being an educator and administrator for 35 years.

Good luck, my friend - it will happen for you! 

graphicguy

nyccarguy said:

I know most of you are much more seasoned travelers than I am. I also know that AMEX's customer service is second to none. I also know that AMEX has to be paid on time, every month (this isn't a problem) My Dad has a Business Platinum Card and I have a Business Gold Card. My Dad gets all of the AMEX points. Good for him. After all, he's in charge (pun intended). I'm thinking of switching credit cards. I currently use a Bank of America CASH REWARDS VISA card. Like most, it gets me 1% cash back on purchases and 3% back on a few things and 2% back on certain other things. I've had the card for close to 7 years and have accumulated about $1,500 in rewards cash. If I open up a ban of America account and have that rewards cash deposited into that account, they will give me an extra 10% (hey, its "free money," so why not).

I'm thinking of switching to a travel rewards card. I'm trying to decide between a BANK OF AMERICA travel rewards card and an AMEX Premier Gold Rewards Card.

AMEX gives you 1 point per every dollar you spend plus 3 points for every dollar you spend on plane tickets, 2 Points at restaurants, gas stations, & super markets.

Bank of America gives you 1.5 points per dollar & 3 points when you book flights through the BofA travel center plus a 10% bonus if you have a Bank of America checking or Savings account.

So just using last month's bill of $5,669.93 Assuming the straight 1% & 1.5% respectively:

AMEX: $56.70

BofA: $93.56

What do you experts think? Is AMEX just "the way to go" no matter what?

I've had AMEX Platinum for a while. I travel a lot and the points rack up quickly. I charge between $5K and $10K/mo, however. But, I'm also flying to Europe and staying in some nice hotels this coming November, all paid for with points. It's yearly fee is steep ($500), but I write that off on my taxes since I use it for business.

As you say, their customer service is outstanding and 2nd to none. If I get stuck in a city because of weather related flight cancellations, AMEX is the first I call to find me a hotel (and transportation) for the night. Their travel dept is great, too. Their insurance covers my car rentals, too. AMEX paid for my Global Entry fee, and offers me a $200 credit/year on flight related charges (like extra luggage charges). They offer no charge membership into Delta Sky Clubs and AMEX's own Centurion Clubs at airports that have them. I use that perk, a lot. I think they have 5X points on flights and hotels booked through AMEX travel.

Every once in a great while, I'll find a place that doesn't accept AMEX (recently, Costco). But, that doesn't happen often.

I did see where Chase Sapphire Reserve VISA was offering 100,000 points just to sign up, which is a pretty hefty incentive. That will get you all sorts of goodies...and lots of them. IIRC, it was 3X points on dining and travel, too. Again, something like $450-$500 annual fee, though. If you want to pay over time, this would probably hold more allure than AMEX.

I have a corporate travel card and still use my AMEX and am reimbursed because I want to keep my points.

I look at other offers every once in a while (like the VISA Sapphire Reserve), but always seem to stick with AMEX.

Hope that helps.

driver100

iluvmysephia1 said:

oldfather50 - I'd better find a job before I buy anything. I'm between jobs now, but I do have 3 possibilities brewing, though.

Good luck iluv.....I hated looking for jobs. I have had to look for a new job so many times in my life....that was my career...looking for a job.

What I hated was looking for a job is a full time job, without pay.

Stay the course, hopefully one of the 3 will work out, but, treat looking for a job as a full time job if you have to.

Another thing I learned was the last 2 jobs I had were terrible, but, the knowledge I gained was worth more than my pay check. I couldn't have started my own business without the knowledge those jobs gave me. Never give up!

graphicguy

Regarding the CTS buyback.....Cadillac said they were overnighting a check to the dealership who would do the car inspection. That was Monday. As of yesterday, the dealership said they hadn't received a check, yet.

So, Cadillac has until next week to get the check to me before being in default. Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

oldfarmer50

iluvmysephia1 said:

oldfather50 - I'd better find a job before I buy anything. I'm between jobs now, but I do have 3 possibilities brewing, though.

That's old fashion thinking. Job? Who needs a job to live like a king? Won't the government just come in and take care of everything?

Michaell

graphicguy said:

Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

Ok, that was funny!

You'll never see that check, if that's the case.

iluvmysephia1

abacomike - I truly appreciate you praying for me. The one in Missouri north of Columbia is falling out of favor with me. When the Manager caught wind that I work two patients and to get everything done it takes us 13 hours, she had to do a "What? 13 hours? We allow 10 hours for 2 patients and if you run three patients and their studies, we have our tech.'s work 11 hours for that."

Right. I am going to turn their offer down. I have only been out of work one week now and I haven't applied for U.I. yet, so turning down their offer won't mess with U.I It's just that I am not going to be able ta work as fast as they want me to. It's all for them. My wife and I are in agreement - don't even entertain the thought of working for this outfit. 

I'm still in the running for the one in the small eastern Washington town north of Spokane and the one with the expanding lab in the large hospital in Tucson. Hospital jobs in my field pay better, have better benefits and tend to not be so pesky about things like efficiency. Don't get me wrong guys, I am working as fast as I can ta get those two patients done, their beds changed and all of their documentation done in that 13 hours. This company wants those same two patients done in only 10 hours time?

We're not going there. I can say that feeling fine about my technical skills, too.

fintail

I have only two rewards cards - the Costco Citi card (got $200 cash back for last year, not bad), and a Miles and More Barclaycard I have had for ages, and have quite a few miles saved now. My last European trip had airfare paid with miles, but with flights now barely costing more than the fees on a mileage redemption, it is smarter to buy. I seldom travel much for business, and don't have a lot of expenses, no need for others.

Good call about the MO job, iluv. If they are nitpicking you what sounds like before a real interview, no doubt the place has more than its fair share of nitwit micromanagers, and has a low-morale working environment. With all things equal, I bet you'd be happiest back in WA.

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Regarding the CTS buyback.....Cadillac said they were overnighting a check to the dealership who would do the car inspection. That was Monday. As of yesterday, the dealership said they hadn't received a check, yet.

So, Cadillac has until next week to get the check to me before being in default. Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

Oh that's funny. Maybe they'll claim you have to get your money from Maduro!

ab348

I went thru the process of getting a few different cards over the last year or so. Used to have a MC, Visa and Amex. Never used the Amex much, and MC was my prime card for Air Miles (is that even a thing in the US?). Anyway, my bank that issued the MC began to really irritate me, Air Miles shot themselves in the foot a number of times over the last year by chintzing out on their rewards, and I was looking to make changes.

I don't travel much so I wasn't interested in those kind of rewards, and focused instead on cash back or dollar rewards of some sort. I've found that a 1% cash back card really isn't all that attractive to me. I was offered a WalMart MC and took it, which pays 1.25% there and 1% everywhere else. I only use it when I shop there which isn't much, and might just cancel it. I now use 3 cards most of the time depending on where I shop. I have a President's Choice World Elite MC which gives me lots of points when I shop for groceries at my main store which translates back into free groceries. I have a Canadian Tire MC which gives pretty generous points when I shop there, which seems to be every week. And I have a GM Visa that I use pretty much everywhere else. That pays 5% GM money on the first few thousand (I think $10K?) of purchases you make each year, then some lower sum after that. I already have $600 in that account.

I dunno how canceling CCs affects your credit rating but I have several cards I do not use and am not sure if I should cancel them or not.

houdini1

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Regarding the CTS buyback.....Cadillac said they were overnighting a check to the dealership who would do the car inspection. That was Monday. As of yesterday, the dealership said they hadn't received a check, yet.

So, Cadillac has until next week to get the check to me before being in default. Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

Oh that's funny. Maybe they'll claim you have to get your money from Maduro!

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Regarding the CTS buyback.....Cadillac said they were overnighting a check to the dealership who would do the car inspection. That was Monday. As of yesterday, the dealership said they hadn't received a check, yet.

So, Cadillac has until next week to get the check to me before being in default. Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

Oh that's funny. Maybe they'll claim you have to get your money from Maduro!

If you get the check next week it will be interesting to see when it was dated. Probably the dealer is playing games. "Oh, we found it. Came in last Tuesday."

ab348

Since @driver100 posted pics of his designer toilet a while back I thought I would post one of my current main floor bath mid-reno. Things are being torn out:



Fortunately I have a nice new bathroom downstairs:




The amount of dust and dirt this all generates is remarkable. Probably another week/10 days of them being here. Plumber due in on Monday.

fintail

I never could stand those counter extensions that go above the toilet tank. If something goes awry in there, have fun with that!

fintail

It works for the brave .1% , why not for others?

oldfarmer50 said:

That's old fashion thinking. Job? Who needs a job to live like a king? Won't the government just come in and take care of everything?

ab348

fintail said:

I never could stand those counter extensions that go above the toilet tank. If something goes awry in there, have fun with that!

Yes, the "banjo top" counter. Useful in small spaces I guess.

That is all going away along with everything remaining in there that you see. I may well install a glass shelf above the new toilet but that would be on a couple of designey brackets that make it easy to remove.

fintail

I have seen it in tons of condos, luckily never in a place I have lived in, it would drive me nuts.

Have fun with that, the joys of ownership! If I had a house, I might want a perfectly preserved "time capsule" kind of thing, no pressure to renovate

ab348 said:

Yes, the "banjo top" counter. Useful in small spaces I guess.

That is all going away along with everything remaining in there that you see. I may well install a glass shelf above the new toilet but that would be on a couple of designey brackets that make it easy to remove.

driver100

graphicguy said:

Regarding the CTS buyback.....Cadillac said they were overnighting a check to the dealership who would do the car inspection. That was Monday. As of yesterday, the dealership said they hadn't received a check, yet.

So, Cadillac has until next week to get the check to me before being in default. Maybe, it was coming from their Venezuelan offices.

lol......they are not competent enough to get a check to you on time via post office......no wonder they can't deliver a part within a few months.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

BoA transfers the money to my checking automatically every time I hit 30 rewards bucks on their cash card (with that 75% bonus). But, man you ARE paranoid. I went through changes in programs and never had things disappear on me. I still have unclaimed few bucks on my Amex Blue card, for years now. Expiration date is the only thing that I see as truly legitimate, but even there I'm usually vigilant about reading the terms, so I'd never miss it. I let my Chase Freedom cash reward run up to $100 and before I took it out, once long time ago, I even let it up to $200, cause they offered a bonus at that level. Got it once, then they eliminated the bonus, but gave me several months of advance notice, so no complaints. With Chase Freedom I usually waited until the rotating 5% bonus hit something I wasn't going to do (cause I either had a better reward, or I wasn't shopping at those establishments), then after receiving bonus for previous quarter, I'd request the withdrawal right there. Before I used it to pay part of the balance, now they'd simply transfer the money to my BoA checking.

Just recently got an offer from AMEX with that same $195 fee waiver for the first year. Didn't like the idea of a fee after one year so I tossed it. I Don't travel out of the country so no good there.

My only gripe with MC and Visa is they won't send me a check any more. Unless I want their gifts I can only get credit on future purchases.

You have to get the correct type of credit card.

We have a Bank of America cash rewards Visa card. The only problem I have with it, well, in fairness, I guess you can say it ain't the card, it's Mrs. j. We have about $1400 in the kitty at B of A. I have told her to get all but $400 out but she hasn't done it yet. I don't know what the minimum is to get the "bonus rewards", which is around an additional 50% (I think) on top of the normal rate, but I know $400 is above that minimum. I just don't want too much of my money being held by my credit card company. It's a personal thing.

While I might not be as paranoid as @andres3, I'm pretty damn close. Banks are the biggest thieves there are in business. They did not get their wealth by being "upfront and fair" with their customers. As the saying goes, "you can steal more money carrying a briefcase than carrying a gun". Banks have more than proven that to be true. But they have us by the you know whats so we have to deal with them or live with a lumpy mattress. Some may be better than others but none of them are our friends. You just have to keep an eye on them and pick them wisely. In our current discussion that means a CC that works best for you.

FWIW, "fair" is something our parents taught us as we were growing up. Once we were out of the house we learned it is not practiced in business and banks for sure don't practice it...maybe even worse than car dealerships.

jmonroe

driver100

Ab, Nice work....I admire someone who can DIY! I can't do stuff myself. Last time I changed the bulbs in a ceiling fan in Florida, I actually got it done and put in 2 new bulbs....then I dropped the globe on the floor....about 1000 pieces!

But I do know nice work, and wouldn't advise this kind of plan:

Michaell

"you can steal more money carrying a briefcase than carrying a gun".

Bonus Friday points for anyone who knows the origin of that quote.

Our spare bathroom has the counter that extends above the toilet. We have candles there. I'll get a pic and post it soon.

dino001

jmonroe said:

FWIW, "fair" is something our parents taught us as we were growing up. Once we were out of the house we learned it is not practiced in business and banks for sure don't practice it...maybe even worse than car dealerships. jmonroe

I may have a little bit more laissez faire attitude toward what somebody wants to charge me, as long as they are not a legal regulated monopoly (utilities) and they put all pertinent disclosures. I think it's my job to find out whether the deal is "good enough", how much I'll really pay for whatever I'm buying. Their job is to deliver the service/product as described.

That being said, I do divide business into two major categories:
1. We have a product at a certain price, we believe in our product enough to tell you how much it really costs, so there are no misunderstandings, if you don't like the product or price, we are sorry, maybe next time, when you have more money, or we make it better suit your needs. We may be open to negotiate the price, if your order is big enough. Examples: many business-to-business organizations, upscale consumer facing businesses, certain type of merchants (supermarkets), certain consumer product manufacturers.
2. We think our product is OK (or not), the likelihood is that when you see its real price, you won't buy it, or at least hesitate, so we will do absolutely everything legal (or sometimes even beyond) to obscure that price/cost from your view and make you believe you will/are paying less. And we know you want us to lie to you, because if we told you the truth, your wife/husband will never let you buy our product/service. Our advertising will always have ten lines of small print and five asterisks. We will structure our service in such a way that you have to read all terms and conditions - if you do something just a little different, we will slam you with fees. But in our ads we will tell you if you dare not to get our product, all your neighbors will laugh at you, your mother will disown you, your daughter will come from school crying that other kids call her poor. So caveat emptor. Examples: car dealers (especially those facing lower end consumer), car manufacturers, telecommunication companies (cell phone service), airlines, banks.

Of course, sometimes categories mix.

dino001

Michaell said:

"you can steal more money carrying a briefcase than carrying a gun".

Bonus Friday points for anyone who knows the origin of that quote.

Our spare bathroom has the counter that extends above the toilet. We have candles there. I'll get a pic and post it soon.

Vito Corleone in The Godfather by Mario Puzo. He said that about lawyers.

Michaell

dino001 said:

Michaell said:

"you can steal more money carrying a briefcase than carrying a gun".

Bonus Friday points for anyone who knows the origin of that quote.

Our spare bathroom has the counter that extends above the toilet. We have candles there. I'll get a pic and post it soon.

Vito Corleone in The Godfather by Mario Puzo. He said that about lawyers.

Huh. Guess Don Henley swiped the line for his song "Gimme All You Got". Just listened to it last night.

Thanks!

Michaell

As promised - our spare bathroom:

ab348

driver100 said:

Ab, Nice work....I admire someone who can DIY! I can't do stuff myself. Last time I changed the bulbs in a ceiling fan in Florida, I actually got it done and put in 2 new bulbs....then I dropped the globe on the floor....about 1000 pieces!

The only DIY involved here is me writing cheques to pay the contractor.

I can paint and do small stuff but nothing like this.

abacomike

ab348 said:

Since @driver100 posted pics of his designer toilet a while back I thought I would post one of my current main floor bath mid-reno. Things are being torn out:



Fortunately I have a nice new bathroom downstairs:




The amount of dust and dirt this all generates is remarkable. Probably another week/10 days of them being here. Plumber due in on Monday.

I swear I felt a BM starting down the "pike" when I saw those pictures. You can't do that here, "ab". Most of us older geezers don't need much to get "started" if you know what I mean!

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

Ab, Nice work....I admire someone who can DIY! I can't do stuff myself. Last time I changed the bulbs in a ceiling fan in Florida, I actually got it done and put in 2 new bulbs....then I dropped the globe on the floor....about 1000 pieces!

The only DIY involved here is me writing cheques to pay the contractor.

I can paint and do small stuff but nothing like this.

Oh, honesty is worth something too!

Actually, my dropping the globe on the floor worked out well. We went to Home Depot to buy a replacement globe, and they were out of the size we needed. My wife noticed those round LED lights that last for 25k hours.......took out the old fan and replaced with the light....looks like a skylight and she likes it much better....had 2 more installed (not by me though).

Maybe I am good at DIY stuff

abacomike

Just got a couple of calls regarding this new Epclusa regimen I am starting this evening with my usual evening meds. First, the nurse from my gastroenterologist's office called to tell me that for the 12 weeks I am going to be on this drug, I have to discontinue taking Lipitor. It seems there is a drug interaction that causes a major strengthening of the Lipitor concentration in my blood stream and can cause liver damage - we sure don't need any more damage to my poor liver - it's been beat up, sliced, punched and bruised enough. Once I'm off the Epclusa, I am to restart the Lipitor. Besides, my cholesterol levels are very low anyway. Let's hope nothing bad happens by stopping the statin.

Then, I got a call from the pharmacy that will be filling the prescriptions for the next three months which is located in South Miami - about 55-60 miles south of me. They wanted to remind me about two of my current medications (Lipitor and Famotidine) - that I need to discontinue the Lipitor (atorvastatin) and if I need to take Famotidine (for upset stomach due to taking aspirin) it should be taken 12 hours apart from the Epclusa.

So, now I pray to the Lord that this anti-viral is successful in ridding my poor body of this Hepatitis C. It has a different formulary than the Harvoni I took 20 months ago - it attacks the virus genetically and hopefully causes it to stop reproducing. If only this works - I might be able to live a few more years than what they said after the liver surgery and the cancer. There is still a danger of cancer recurrence which is common - and if that happens, it's all over - no way to stop it a second time.

I tell you, this is getting stressful.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Ab, Nice work....I admire someone who can DIY! I can't do stuff myself. Last time I changed the bulbs in a ceiling fan in Florida, I actually got it done and put in 2 new bulbs....then I dropped the globe on the floor....about 1000 pieces!

But I do know nice work, and wouldn't advise this kind of plan:

Is your aim that bad that you need backup?

jmonroe

driver100 said:

Mike, I accept if you say dealers don't have microphones in the sales office.......at least I believe yours didn't and maybe all reputable new cardealers follow that rule.

I don't know if I would trust an independent used car dealer not to have a microphone though. I guess my thinking would be, better act as if there is a microphone just in case.

I'm with you. You have no idea how much that bugs me but the truth cannot be argued. Read on. It's not too long but let me digress for a minute.

When we lived in SC, we bought our '95 Bonneville in August of '95. It had about 7K miles on it and the story was, it belonged to a retired GM exec who was entitled to buy a car or truck every year as part of his retirement umbrella deal. The price was set by the factory and all the dealer had to do was take the order and get a "pass-through fee". Maybe @abacomike can tell us how this really works but it's nice work if you can get it and this retiree got it. This part of the story turned out to be true. I found that out latter (long story you don't want to hear, so enough about that).

OK, now the story:

We went to this Pontiac dealer about 4 o'clock on a Friday. The dealer closed at 5:30. I figured we had plenty of time to get a deal done but I was wrong. The dealer wanted to play games. This was a big reason why I adopted my 30 minute thingy about wasting time trying to buy a car. Anyway, we are doing the dance and the salesman gets up to go to his manager again. He was there about 15 minutes and it's now past 5:30 and the lights are being turned off. Mrs. j says "now what" and starts into something I didn't want the salesman to hear so I quickly cut her off and said something like, "it looks like we should go back and talk to Marty at ABC Buick next door tomorrow morning. We were a lot closer with him than this guy. Let's go."

We get up and we are not 5 steps out of the salesman's cube when he comes running over and says the typical salesman bleep, "congratulations, you just bought that car for the price you wanted". I asked why he had to wait so long since it was same offer I made originally when the whole game started. His response was, "this is the last time we have to sell a car today so my boss said sell it". I believe that part of the story but I'm convinced that it was more about us going somewhere else the next day.

This salesman struck me as being the typical car salesman of that era not a mind reader, but, maybe he was. I'll never know or did I?

jmonroe

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=juUAPzU1EyM

abacomike

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

Mike, I accept if you say dealers don't have microphones in the sales office.......at least I believe yours didn't and maybe all reputable new cardealers follow that rule.

I don't know if I would trust an independent used car dealer not to have a microphone though. I guess my thinking would be, better act as if there is a microphone just in case.

I'm with you. You have no idea how much that bugs me but the truth cannot be argued. Read on. It's not too long but let me digress for a minute.

When we lived in SC, we bought our '95 Bonneville in August of '95. It had about 7K miles on it and the story was, it belonged to a retired GM exec who was entitled to buy a car or truck every year as part of his retirement umbrella deal. The price was set by the factory and all the dealer had to do was take the order and get a "pass-through fee". Maybe @abacomike can tell us how this really works but it's nice work if you can get it and this retiree got it. This part of the story turned out to be true. I found that out latter (long story you don't want to hear, so enough about that).

OK, now the story:

We went to this Pontiac dealer about 4 o'clock on a Friday. The dealer closed at 5:30. I figured we had plenty of time to get a deal done but I was wrong. The dealer wanted to play games. This was a big reason why I adopted my 30 minute thingy about wasting time trying to buy a car. Anyway, we are doing the dance and the salesman gets up to go to his manager again. He was there about 15 minutes and it's now past 5:30 and the lights are being turned off. Mrs. j says "now what" and starts into something I didn't want the salesman to hear so I quickly cut her off and said something like, "it looks like we should go back and talk to Marty at ABC Buick next door tomorrow morning. We were a lot closer with him than this guy. Let's go."

We get up and we are not 5 steps out of the salesman's cube when he comes running over and says the typical salesman bleep, "congratulations, you just bought that car for the price you wanted". I asked why he had to wait so long since it was same offer I made originally when the whole game started. His response was, "this is the last time we have to sell a car today so my boss said sell it". I believe that part of the story but I'm convinced that it was more about us going somewhere else the next day.

This salesman struck me as being the typical car salesman of that era not a mind reader, but, maybe he was. I'll never know or did I?

jmonroe

What triggered your getting the deal was the standing up and taking 5 steps toward the door - it works a great deal of the time - but I am sure they did not have you monitored on a hidden microphone. But, as you well know, I have been known to be wrong at times!

andres3

Speaking of paranoia, some of it has served me very well, and I don't think it is paranoia, but good practices.

I used to dabble in low stakes online poker. I was pretty good and was able to consistently win over the course of about 1,000 tournaments.

I would never let my winnings accumulate to much more than $100 in the off-shore internet bank transfer company that was required because of retarded US regulations with banks.

Well, then comes the day, without warning, the US gov't decides to seize the funds in these types of accounts if they did transfers with people living in the US. Luckily I only had about $100 seized, because of my standard practice of constant small withdrawals. It took about half a year for the gov't to unseize those funds and allow the fund transfer company to complete withdrawals.

So some funds were seized, but did the financial transfer organization volunteer to cover the lost funds until the government returned them? No! They should have, but didn't.

What did all this government intervention result in? We'll they just made it a tad harder to move the money around to play online poker, and that meant they made it much harder to be a superior poker player. Only the winners kept circumventing the burdensome gov't regulators, and the losers gave up. Made winning much more difficult. Ruined it!

jmonroe

ab348 said:

Since @driver100 posted pics of his designer toilet a while back I thought I would post one of my current main floor bath mid-reno. Things are being torn out:



Fortunately I have a nice new bathroom downstairs:




The amount of dust and dirt this all generates is remarkable. Probably another week/10 days of them being here. Plumber due in on Monday.

When it's the most important seat in the house, you shouldn't cheap-out.

jmonroe

jmonroe

driver100 said:

Ab, Nice work....I admire someone who can DIY! I can't do stuff myself. Last time I changed the bulbs in a ceiling fan in Florida, I actually got it done and put in 2 new bulbs....then I dropped the globe on the floor....about 1000 pieces!

But I do know nice work, and wouldn't advise this kind of plan:

Another made for the internet rouse.

When will it end? :@

jmonroe

jmonroe

Michaell said:

dino001 said:

Michaell said:

"you can steal more money carrying a briefcase than carrying a gun".

Bonus Friday points for anyone who knows the origin of that quote.

Our spare bathroom has the counter that extends above the toilet. We have candles there. I'll get a pic and post it soon.

Vito Corleone in The Godfather by Mario Puzo. He said that about lawyers.

Huh. Guess Don Henley swiped the line for his song "Gimme All You Got". Just listened to it last night.

Thanks!

Now who's being unfair?

You were offering "bonus points" for the answer.

@dino001 came through. So what does he get?

Hint: Being as cheap frugal as he is he'd probably welcome a dues cut.

jmonroe

graphicguy

https://youtu.be/_BnQBkOj0cs


Pricing and driving impressions embargo? So, you bring a major redesign of a car to show it off, and two of the most important variables that go into the decision to buy a car, Acura won't let you talk about?

That can't be a good sign......and this is an Acura fan stating that.

dino001

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

Mike, I accept if you say dealers don't have microphones in the sales office.......at least I believe yours didn't and maybe all reputable new cardealers follow that rule.

I don't know if I would trust an independent used car dealer not to have a microphone though. I guess my thinking would be, better act as if there is a microphone just in case.

I'm with you. You have no idea how much that bugs me but the truth cannot be argued. Read on. It's not too long but let me digress for a minute.

When we lived in SC, we bought our '95 Bonneville in August of '95. It had about 7K miles on it and the story was, it belonged to a retired GM exec who was entitled to buy a car or truck every year as part of his retirement umbrella deal. The price was set by the factory and all the dealer had to do was take the order and get a "pass-through fee". Maybe @abacomike can tell us how this really works but it's nice work if you can get it and this retiree got it. This part of the story turned out to be true. I found that out latter (long story you don't want to hear, so enough about that).

OK, now the story:

We went to this Pontiac dealer about 4 o'clock on a Friday. The dealer closed at 5:30. I figured we had plenty of time to get a deal done but I was wrong. The dealer wanted to play games. This was a big reason why I adopted my 30 minute thingy about wasting time trying to buy a car. Anyway, we are doing the dance and the salesman gets up to go to his manager again. He was there about 15 minutes and it's now past 5:30 and the lights are being turned off. Mrs. j says "now what" and starts into something I didn't want the salesman to hear so I quickly cut her off and said something like, "it looks like we should go back and talk to Marty at ABC Buick next door tomorrow morning. We were a lot closer with him than this guy. Let's go."

We get up and we are not 5 steps out of the salesman's cube when he comes running over and says the typical salesman bleep, "congratulations, you just bought that car for the price you wanted". I asked why he had to wait so long since it was same offer I made originally when the whole game started. His response was, "this is the last time we have to sell a car today so my boss said sell it". I believe that part of the story but I'm convinced that it was more about us going somewhere else the next day.

This salesman struck me as being the typical car salesman of that era not a mind reader, but, maybe he was. I'll never know or did I?

jmonroe

They closed at 6 pm? Today most are open 'till 8, or longer.

imidazol97

This forum has really gone down the toilet. LOL
It used to be the most important seat was the driver seat in an automobile, but now.... oh well.

qbrozen

dino001 said:

They closed at 6 pm? Today most are open 'till 8, or longer.

Most dealers in my area are open till 9pm Mon-Thurs. But on the days that really count like Fri and Sat? 6 or 7pm. Makes no sense to me.

berri

How about the post office - close weekdays at 5 before most working people can get there. Open Saturday only until noon and closed Sunday. That's called "customer service"

jmonroe

dino001 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

Mike, I accept if you say dealers don't have microphones in the sales office.......at least I believe yours didn't and maybe all reputable new cardealers follow that rule.

I don't know if I would trust an independent used car dealer not to have a microphone though. I guess my thinking would be, better act as if there is a microphone just in case.

I'm with you. You have no idea how much that bugs me but the truth cannot be argued. Read on. It's not too long but let me digress for a minute.

When we lived in SC, we bought our '95 Bonneville in August of '95. It had about 7K miles on it and the story was, it belonged to a retired GM exec who was entitled to buy a car or truck every year as part of his retirement umbrella deal. The price was set by the factory and all the dealer had to do was take the order and get a "pass-through fee". Maybe @abacomike can tell us how this really works but it's nice work if you can get it and this retiree got it. This part of the story turned out to be true. I found that out latter (long story you don't want to hear, so enough about that).

OK, now the story:

We went to this Pontiac dealer about 4 o'clock on a Friday. The dealer closed at 5:30. I figured we had plenty of time to get a deal done but I was wrong. The dealer wanted to play games. This was a big reason why I adopted my 30 minute thingy about wasting time trying to buy a car. Anyway, we are doing the dance and the salesman gets up to go to his manager again. He was there about 15 minutes and it's now past 5:30 and the lights are being turned off. Mrs. j says "now what" and starts into something I didn't want the salesman to hear so I quickly cut her off and said something like, "it looks like we should go back and talk to Marty at ABC Buick next door tomorrow morning. We were a lot closer with him than this guy. Let's go."

We get up and we are not 5 steps out of the salesman's cube when he comes running over and says the typical salesman bleep, "congratulations, you just bought that car for the price you wanted". I asked why he had to wait so long since it was same offer I made originally when the whole game started. His response was, "this is the last time we have to sell a car today so my boss said sell it". I believe that part of the story but I'm convinced that it was more about us going somewhere else the next day.

This salesman struck me as being the typical car salesman of that era not a mind reader, but, maybe he was. I'll never know or did I?

jmonroe

They closed at 6 pm? Today most are open 'till 8, or longer.

Actually it was 5:30 PM not 6 PM but this was in SC and it was a Friday. I figured since they would be opening and staying late on Saturday they didn't want 2 long days in a row. I'm sure it's different today but not back in '95.

In any case we over-stayed our welcome on that Friday night.

jmonroe

cdnpinhead

abacomike said:

I swear I felt a BM starting down the "pike" when I saw those pictures.

TMI