Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

GG, I didn't have retirement for Ohio but I think Michigan will work,

You can retire to Michigan Ohio where...
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.

FCA does a great job of disguising crappy cars. They make a nicely designed car, and throw it together, with little engineering or R&R. You can fool some of the people.........

Our Florida rental was a Dodge Journey. I don't like Chrysler cars to start with and that beast ain't going to change my mind. Lots of crappy plastic but for that price range I guess they all have too much of it. My brother asked me if I wanted to drive it to see how it drove. I refused. I didn't want to be part of any car thing that had an engine that labored that much trying to merge onto I 95. That proved my point as to why I won't own a 4 cyl. car, at least one without a turbo.

Upon our return from vacation, our 6 cyl. Subie Legacy and V8 Genny never felt so good.

jmonroe

Chrysler must go out of their way to build cheap crap for the rental market. I had a Sebring 4 door rental years ago and it was horrid compared to my Cirrus (same car but older).

Ahhh, so that's it! I must have received my Dodge Neon by mistake out of the "rental" inventory, when I should have received a "retail" version. I think my father did use a credit union buying service come to think of it!

OK, all is forgiven, when should I test drive a Hellcat?

qbrozen

andres3 said:

GG, I didn't have retirement for Ohio but I think Michigan will work,

You can retire to Michigan Ohio where...
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.

FCA does a great job of disguising crappy cars. They make a nicely designed car, and throw it together, with little engineering or R&R. You can fool some of the people.........

Our Florida rental was a Dodge Journey. I don't like Chrysler cars to start with and that beast ain't going to change my mind. Lots of crappy plastic but for that price range I guess they all have too much of it. My brother asked me if I wanted to drive it to see how it drove. I refused. I didn't want to be part of any car thing that had an engine that labored that much trying to merge onto I 95. That proved my point as to why I won't own a 4 cyl. car, at least one without a turbo.

Upon our return from vacation, our 6 cyl. Subie Legacy and V8 Genny never felt so good.

jmonroe

Chrysler must go out of their way to build cheap crap for the rental market. I had a Sebring 4 door rental years ago and it was horrid compared to my Cirrus (same car but older).

Ahhh, so that's it! I must have received my Dodge Neon by mistake out of the "rental" inventory, when I should have received a "retail" version. I think my father did use a credit union buying service come to think of it!

OK, all is forgiven, when should I test drive a Hellcat?

Oh, good lord, why would you ever drive a Hellcat?!

Go find a Demon! ;b

Mr_Shiftright

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

GG, I didn't have retirement for Ohio but I think Michigan will work,

You can retire to Michigan Ohio where...
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.

FCA does a great job of disguising crappy cars. They make a nicely designed car, and throw it together, with little engineering or R&R. You can fool some of the people.........

Our Florida rental was a Dodge Journey. I don't like Chrysler cars to start with and that beast ain't going to change my mind. Lots of crappy plastic but for that price range I guess they all have too much of it. My brother asked me if I wanted to drive it to see how it drove. I refused. I didn't want to be part of any car thing that had an engine that labored that much trying to merge onto I 95. That proved my point as to why I won't own a 4 cyl. car, at least one without a turbo.

Upon our return from vacation, our 6 cyl. Subie Legacy and V8 Genny never felt so good.

jmonroe

Chrysler must go out of their way to build cheap crap for the rental market. I had a Sebring 4 door rental years ago and it was horrid compared to my Cirrus (same car but older).

Ahhh, so that's it! I must have received my Dodge Neon by mistake out of the "rental" inventory, when I should have received a "retail" version. I think my father did use a credit union buying service come to think of it!

OK, all is forgiven, when should I test drive a Hellcat?

Hellcat is totally "yesterday" and they're already starting to depreciate. The Demon is the new hot ticket.

nyccarguy

@qbrozen - Jalopnik posted an article today about what a fantastic used car bargain a CTS V-Sport is.

ab348

Cross-posted from CCBA:

Got back from my appointment with the dealer. Turned out the salesman who called and made the appointment was handed my file by mistake and immediately handed me off to Chris. the guy I dealt with previously.

According to him, there is an upcoming change in the dealer structure that will only see one Cadillac franchise for the entire area, and they want it, so they are trying to move as many Cadillacs as they can right now to prove their worth. Could be blowing smoke or possibly true, no way to know.

We talked about what I might like and I told him there was really only the possibility to a Cruze Premier or a new Equinox 2.0T that would interest me. The latter are only available around year-end so that wasn't going to be possible. He let me drive a Cruze Premier. Nice car, comfortable seats, rode well, decent room, but just adequate power. Not surprising coming out of an ATS. I could live with it but would depend on the deal.

As we're standing there talking about it he concludes that I really should get into a new ATS given the incentives being offered. I tell him I would only want something that did not have a black interior. I figured this would be a challenge since they order almost their entire inventory with black inside. They have one car that qualifies. It is out front on the raised podium: a 2017 ATS Premium Performance, loaded to the gills. 3.6, RWD, 18" wheels, same Red Obsession paint as mine outside but Kona Brown leather inside. I had looked at it earlier and saw that the sticker was $57K Cdn.

I drive it, it is wonderful. The only things I do not like about it are that it is the same color outside as my current car, and that being a Performance trim it comes with summer-only tires. Everything else about it is just a bit nicer than my car, or in some cases a lot nicer. But it stickers for $57K. No way.

We go back inside and he goes to the sales managers tower. After a long, long time he comes back and throws out some numbers that baffle me. He is talking a sales price of $42K - insane. But I can only get that price if I lease it through them. He quotes a 5.5% APR, a monthly payment of $729 on a 48 month term, and a $17500 residual. I can tell right away those numbers don't make much sense. But then he says that I just have to be in the lease for 6 months and I can buy the car for that price less the capital cost reductions my 6 months worth of payments reduced the $42K by, plus sales tax on the remaining lump sum. The lease is not a GM Financial lease, because he said the incentives when going through them are not as good. This is some other kind of lease that dealers have access to. He said they ordered this car a while ago and realized after a while that they were going to have a very hard time selling it at anything close to sticker, so they are nervous about it and want it gone. Also my remaining 5 months worth of payments on my current lease are waived and I walk out of the 2014 and into the 2017 without termination fees.

I don't know what to make of any of this but the option to lease it for 6 months and then buy it at what is a very good price is tempting. It is probably the only thing that makes sense given those numbers. I just wish I didn't have such a light-headed feeling.

driver100

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

thebean said:

driver100 said:

If you want a book that is fast, easy, clever and exciting to read I strongly recommend Harlan Coben's newest book "Home"


I rarely recommend books because everyone's tastes are so different, but, this one should appeal to almost everyone who likes a fast moving story.

HOME by Harlan Coben available on Amazon

My favorite Coben is Tell No One but all are excellent!

I concur. I read this last fall and it's good. The entire Myron Bolivar character series is very good. Also, if you like this type of mystery, the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by a Robert Crais is excellent.

I concur also about Crais, and as mentioned Michael Connelly is another ace author. So many good authors and books and only so much time to read them.

I'm not a huge fiction fan - mainly Grisham and Clancy (well, the ghost authors now that Clancy has passed).

Currently working on a history book about WWII - written by a Brit named Antony Beevor. Almost 900 pages long. Fascinating stuff - he touches on all the big stuff (Pearl Harbor, German invasion of Russia), but also the things you don't even know happened, like the Japanese battles in SE Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia) or the German invasion of Crete. Not just the raw data, but the political and psychological issues facing the major and minor players.

Turns out there were lots of mistakes made, by both sides - faulty information, bad assumptions, etc.

People either like non-fiction or they like to escape the world by reading fiction.

I prefer to escape the real world these days, a good fiction book and tennis or pickleball....I don't care what goes on any more in real life.

driver100

Ab, what a dilemma, or as some of us learned in school, what a dilemna!

I don't know what I would do, but I would be very nervous about leasing and then buying back and what do the numbers really add up to? And why is there a drop in price from $57K to $42K....I feel uneasy about that (they don't do that unless there is a real reason, and if it is because it is hard to sell what will that mean at trade-in time. Also, the tire thing....you would have to get 4 snow tires for sure and do the changeovers. Too complicated for me......but, it is probably a great car and a great value.

What are you thinking so far?

stickguy

Ab, usually a deal seems too good to be true, it isn't. But occasionally you get lucky and hit the jackpot. Get it in writing, and see if you can pick apart.

Largely becomes a matter of how risk averse you are. I'm not that brave with this stuff, so more likely to miss a winner afraid of getting hosed. But, YMMV!

stickguy

Oh, lease to buy early can be great. Breld did it on his Passat. Sometimes the giant lease incentives make that cheaper to do than buy it from the beginning.

carnaught

Ab, agree, you need everything in writing. Sounds very tastey....

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

imidazol97 said:

@graphicguy
Has the Infinity had an oil change yet?

It has, indeed....just last week. Infiniti pays for an "early" oil change to take out break in oil.

Debating on whether to pursue this or not.

Dealer emailed me this a.m. already showing the figures. They're coming in at $34.3K on the Q50 (a couple hundred off where I thought they'd be, but liveable), Theirs is stickered at $45,750. Invoice numbers aren't out, yet. Having bought a lot of TL(X)s, I'm pretty familiar with their pricing. There's about a $2K delta between invoice and MSRP. So, invoice is around $43,750. I doubt very seriously there's any trunk money on it. So, I threw out a $44K number as a buy on their car. That lines up with the figures they sent me.

No Doc Fee pac on their figures (again, they know me too well). Taxes and licence figures check out.

Numbers are good. Paid $37K for the Q50. I think their trade offer is pretty darned strong, even though I'm losing $2,700 for driving it 3 months. I am moving up two model years though, as you guys pointed out. That's an expensive rental. I'm justifying that "rental" fee by telling myself that the final "Cady-gedon" amount paid back to me included about $3K in travel, hassle time, etc.

Just have to decide if I want to pull the trigger.

Sleeping on it didn't help.

Bet now you're regretting not beating the hell out of the Q50 for the last three months.

dino001

ab348 said:

Cross-posted from CCBA:

... I had looked at it earlier and saw that the sticker was $57K Cdn.

I drive it, it is wonderful. The only things I do not like about it are that it is the same color outside as my current car, and that being a Performance trim it comes with summer-only tires. Everything else about it is just a bit nicer than my car, or in some cases a lot nicer. But it stickers for $57K. No way.

We go back inside and he goes to the sales managers tower. After a long, long time he comes back and throws out some numbers that baffle me. He is talking a sales price of $42K - insane. But I can only get that price if I lease it through them. He quotes a 5.5% APR, a monthly payment of $729 on a 48 month term, and a $17500 residual. I can tell right away those numbers don't make much sense. But then he says that I just have to be in the lease for 6 months and I can buy the car for that price less the capital cost reductions my 6 months worth of payments reduced the $42K by, plus sales tax on the remaining lump sum.

So we have (42K-17.5K)/48 = $510 with $219 covering fees, taxes and money factor. Assuming same schemes of lease apply in Canada, as those in US, 5.5% equal MF=0.0023, so (42+17.5)*0.0023/48 = $130/month of finance charge on the car value alone and $90x48 = $4320 covers taxes, registration and fees, give or take - which sounds legitimate, but I don't know how big is sales tax and registration in Canada, so can't say if it really adds up. 10% of the stated price, give or take sounds like a plausible number (perhaps some of that is applied to MF, too). The deal looks great to me on these numbers alone, but I would read the fine print five times.

What I don't understand, is why does it have to be leased (cannot be purchased), if it is a third party, non-GM lease. Why can't you buy it outright for that price, or why can't you finance it using a loan (don't know if you want to, just why can't you). The whole "buy a car after 6 months" scheme is also strange. I'm sure the 6 months is for them to cash the full commission from the financing deal, but you would also have to get a real paperwork stating the ability to purchase the vehicle at said price.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XkfcWaaPs5o

dino001

stickguy said:

Oh, lease to buy early can be great. Breld did it on his Passat. Sometimes the giant lease incentives make that cheaper to do than buy it from the beginning.

That's true - Volvo has running big lease cash bonus that is not available with purchase. Go figure.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

I just heard that the State of Illinois's bond rating was lowered to "junk bond status"!  They are tens of billions of dollars in debt, not counting their accumulated debt for pensions estimated over $100 billion.

As most of you know, my pension comes from the State of Illinois.  I am extremely worried about my future pension distributions, that's for sure.  Illinois can't borrow any more money based on this recent decrease in their bond rating.  All they can do is raise taxes or default on their interest payments on existing bonds - but corporations and individuals have been leaving the State in droves because of the heavy tax burden that already exists.

Illinois might be the first State to go into bankruptcy and California is not far behind.  Any thoughts on this calamity?  For years the State of Illinois diverted money from pension contributions to operating funds to try and balance budgets.  That action has now come back to bite them - AND ME! 

That stuff will never change until some politicians do jail time. It's criminal.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

GG, I didn't have retirement for Ohio but I think Michigan will work,

You can retire to Michigan Ohio where...
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.

FCA does a great job of disguising crappy cars. They make a nicely designed car, and throw it together, with little engineering or R&R. You can fool some of the people.........

Our Florida rental was a Dodge Journey. I don't like Chrysler cars to start with and that beast ain't going to change my mind. Lots of crappy plastic but for that price range I guess they all have too much of it. My brother asked me if I wanted to drive it to see how it drove. I refused. I didn't want to be part of any car thing that had an engine that labored that much trying to merge onto I 95. That proved my point as to why I won't own a 4 cyl. car, at least one without a turbo.

Upon our return from vacation, our 6 cyl. Subie Legacy and V8 Genny never felt so good.

jmonroe

Chrysler must go out of their way to build cheap crap for the rental market. I had a Sebring 4 door rental years ago and it was horrid compared to my Cirrus (same car but older).

Ahhh, so that's it! I must have received my Dodge Neon by mistake out of the "rental" inventory, when I should have received a "retail" version. I think my father did use a credit union buying service come to think of it!

OK, all is forgiven, when should I test drive a Hellcat?

Too late, it was replaced by the 840hp Demon. Hope you got about 113 large.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

Cross-posted from CCBA:

Got back from my appointment with the dealer. Turned out the salesman who called and made the appointment was handed my file by mistake and immediately handed me off to Chris. the guy I dealt with previously.

According to him, there is an upcoming change in the dealer structure that will only see one Cadillac franchise for the entire area, and they want it, so they are trying to move as many Cadillacs as they can right now to prove their worth. Could be blowing smoke or possibly true, no way to know.

We talked about what I might like and I told him there was really only the possibility to a Cruze Premier or a new Equinox 2.0T that would interest me. The latter are only available around year-end so that wasn't going to be possible. He let me drive a Cruze Premier. Nice car, comfortable seats, rode well, decent room, but just adequate power. Not surprising coming out of an ATS. I could live with it but would depend on the deal.

As we're standing there talking about it he concludes that I really should get into a new ATS given the incentives being offered. I tell him I would only want something that did not have a black interior. I figured this would be a challenge since they order almost their entire inventory with black inside. They have one car that qualifies. It is out front on the raised podium: a 2017 ATS Premium Performance, loaded to the gills. 3.6, RWD, 18" wheels, same Red Obsession paint as mine outside but Kona Brown leather inside. I had looked at it earlier and saw that the sticker was $57K Cdn.

I drive it, it is wonderful. The only things I do not like about it are that it is the same color outside as my current car, and that being a Performance trim it comes with summer-only tires. Everything else about it is just a bit nicer than my car, or in some cases a lot nicer. But it stickers for $57K. No way.

We go back inside and he goes to the sales managers tower. After a long, long time he comes back and throws out some numbers that baffle me. He is talking a sales price of $42K - insane. But I can only get that price if I lease it through them. He quotes a 5.5% APR, a monthly payment of $729 on a 48 month term, and a $17500 residual. I can tell right away those numbers don't make much sense. But then he says that I just have to be in the lease for 6 months and I can buy the car for that price less the capital cost reductions my 6 months worth of payments reduced the $42K by, plus sales tax on the remaining lump sum. The lease is not a GM Financial lease, because he said the incentives when going through them are not as good. This is some other kind of lease that dealers have access to. He said they ordered this car a while ago and realized after a while that they were going to have a very hard time selling it at anything close to sticker, so they are nervous about it and want it gone. Also my remaining 5 months worth of payments on my current lease are waived and I walk out of the 2014 and into the 2017 without termination fees.

I don't know what to make of any of this but the option to lease it for 6 months and then buy it at what is a very good price is tempting. It is probably the only thing that makes sense given those numbers. I just wish I didn't have such a light-headed feeling.

Get that 6 mo deal in writing.

ab348

dino001 said:

So we have (42K-17.5K)/48 = $510 with $219 covering fees, taxes and money factor. Assuming same schemes of lease apply in Canada, as those in US, 5.5% equal MF=0.0023, so (42+17.5)*0.0023/48 = $130/month of finance charge on the car value alone and $90x48 = $4320 covers taxes, registration and fees, give or take - which sounds legitimate, but I don't know how big is sales tax and registration in Canada, so can't say if it really adds up. 10% of the stated price, give or take sounds like a plausible number (perhaps some of that is applied to MF, too). The deal looks great to me on these numbers alone, but I would read the fine print five times.

What I don't understand, is why does it have to be leased (cannot be purchased), if it is a third party, non-GM lease. Why can't you buy it outright for that price, or why can't you finance it using a loan (don't know if you want to, just why can't you). The whole "buy a car after 6 months" scheme is also strange. I'm sure the 6 months is for them to cash the full commission from the financing deal, but you would also have to get a real paperwork stating the ability to purchase the vehicle at said price.

Since posting the first time I have been running the numbers and came up with the same things you did. It is legit at that money factor and taking into account our sales taxes here which are added to the monthly payment.

I don't understand exactly why I can't buy it outright at that price but there must be some sort of lease-only incentive they are using. One of the questions he asked me before he went to talk to the sales managers was whether I had a GM credit card and what rewards balance it had (I have one with a few hundred bucks of rewards). Maybe that brings in some 3rd-party incentive for them, I don't know. I actually don't mind the 6-month proviso since I have 5 payments remaining on my current lease anyway, so the delta isn't all that big. Of course I would need to see everything in writing about the 6-month buyout option. It does seem pretty attractive, I have to admit.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

I just heard that the State of Illinois's bond rating was lowered to "junk bond status"!  They are tens of billions of dollars in debt, not counting their accumulated debt for pensions estimated over $100 billion.

As most of you know, my pension comes from the State of Illinois.  I am extremely worried about my future pension distributions, that's for sure.  Illinois can't borrow any more money based on this recent decrease in their bond rating.  All they can do is raise taxes or default on their interest payments on existing bonds - but corporations and individuals have been leaving the State in droves because of the heavy tax burden that already exists.

Illinois might be the first State to go into bankruptcy and California is not far behind.  Any thoughts on this calamity?  For years the State of Illinois diverted money from pension contributions to operating funds to try and balance budgets.  That action has now come back to bite them - AND ME! 

That stuff will never change until some politicians do jail time. It's criminal.

It is Illinois. Where it is normal for politicians to finish out their terms in jail.

bwia

ab348 said:

Cross-posted from CCBA:

Got back from my appointment with the dealer. Turned out the salesman who called and made the appointment was handed my file by mistake and immediately handed me off to Chris. the guy I dealt with previously.

According to him, there is an upcoming change in the dealer structure that will only see one Cadillac franchise for the entire area, and they want it, so they are trying to move as many Cadillacs as they can right now to prove their worth. Could be blowing smoke or possibly true, no way to know.

We talked about what I might like and I told him there was really only the possibility to a Cruze Premier or a new Equinox 2.0T that would interest me. The latter are only available around year-end so that wasn't going to be possible. He let me drive a Cruze Premier. Nice car, comfortable seats, rode well, decent room, but just adequate power. Not surprising coming out of an ATS. I could live with it but would depend on the deal.

As we're standing there talking about it he concludes that I really should get into a new ATS given the incentives being offered. I tell him I would only want something that did not have a black interior. I figured this would be a challenge since they order almost their entire inventory with black inside. They have one car that qualifies. It is out front on the raised podium: a 2017 ATS Premium Performance, loaded to the gills. 3.6, RWD, 18" wheels, same Red Obsession paint as mine outside but Kona Brown leather inside. I had looked at it earlier and saw that the sticker was $57K Cdn.

I drive it, it is wonderful. The only things I do not like about it are that it is the same color outside as my current car, and that being a Performance trim it comes with summer-only tires. Everything else about it is just a bit nicer than my car, or in some cases a lot nicer. But it stickers for $57K. No way.

We go back inside and he goes to the sales managers tower. After a long, long time he comes back and throws out some numbers that baffle me. He is talking a sales price of $42K - insane. But I can only get that price if I lease it through them. He quotes a 5.5% APR, a monthly payment of $729 on a 48 month term, and a $17500 residual. I can tell right away those numbers don't make much sense. But then he says that I just have to be in the lease for 6 months and I can buy the car for that price less the capital cost reductions my 6 months worth of payments reduced the $42K by, plus sales tax on the remaining lump sum. The lease is not a GM Financial lease, because he said the incentives when going through them are not as good. This is some other kind of lease that dealers have access to. He said they ordered this car a while ago and realized after a while that they were going to have a very hard time selling it at anything close to sticker, so they are nervous about it and want it gone. Also my remaining 5 months worth of payments on my current lease are waived and I walk out of the 2014 and into the 2017 without termination fees.

I don't know what to make of any of this but the option to lease it for 6 months and then buy it at what is a very good price is tempting. It is probably the only thing that makes sense given those numbers. I just wish I didn't have such a light-headed feeling.

From an ATS to a Cruze to an Equinox to an ATS-Performance spec. Wow! That is an expansive range. The lease/buy decision sounds reasonable (although the 5.5% APR financing is high) but I am almost sure there is a built-in early termination fee in that arrangement.

To sweeten the deal, I would ask for a set of snow or all season tires and that the purchase option be put in writing without any conditions. Let us know how the deal turns out.

driver100

dino001 said:

stickguy said:

Oh, lease to buy early can be great. Breld did it on his Passat. Sometimes the giant lease incentives make that cheaper to do than buy it from the beginning.

That's true - Volvo has running big lease cash bonus that is not available with purchase. Go figure.

Car companies prefer leasing to purchasing. The car is out for 3 years and comes back with a designated mileage. Keeps the flow going, new cars going out, and a flow of used cars coming in. Plus, the extra profit from higher costs usually. Much better chance of selling the client another car too.

When we bought the GLK they were offering for 3 months they would pay the lease payments. If we purchased we could borrow the full amount from them, pay interest on that amount, then pay the cash after 3 months....but had to be paid on time. The interest amounted to one monthly payment, so we got a 2 month savings instead of 3.

bwia

Use this calculator to compute estimated monthly lease payments.
http://www.calculator.net/lease-calculator.html

graphicguy

More to come....pics are messed up.

stickguy

so, is this a hint?

28firefighter

stickguy said:

so, is this a hint?

No, I think it's the answer. Q50 is gone, I'm sure. 

driver100

28firefighter said:

stickguy said:

so, is this a hint?

No, I think it's the answer. Q50 is gone, I'm sure. 

Place your bets!

driver100

I got this email about a look to the future. Just some of the highlights;

Most car companies will probably become bankrupt . Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies ( Tesla, Apple, Google ) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels . Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; are completely terrified of Tesla .
Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper . Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There are companies who will build a medical device (called the " Tricorder " from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breathe into it. It then analyses 54 bio-markers that will identify nearly any disease . It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medical analysis, nearly for free Goodbye, medical establishment

Business opportunities : If you think of a niche you want to go in, first ask yourself: "In the future, do I think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?

If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20 th century is doomed to failure in the 21 st century.

Work : 70-80 % of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a short time. This will require a rethink on wealth distribution.

There is more, but those are some of the big changes to think about.........

graphicguy

graphicguy

Not sure why, but the proportions of the photo are off. Trying to fix it.

Long and short of it, my son put it into perspective for me.

"Dad....you can do whatever you want. You've raised me. I'm out and on my own, doing fine. You don't have anyone else to support. And, it's your birthday on Thursday. Go for it".

I knew there was a reason I loved him so much.

I bought it last night. Red on Red TLX SH AWD A-Spec. Dealer sold 10 '18 TLXs, since they got them on 5/31....essentially, selling out. They won't get more until end of June, first of July. They have 15 2017s left, though. Mine was the first (and only) A-Spec they sold in that configuration.

The deal actually came in exactly as I outlined it before. No runs, drips, errors or drama. Easy-Peazy!

This drives NOTHING like any Acura I've driven previously. Better in person than in pics.

Nothing wrong with the Q50, but it has become more of a lux cruiser (although one high in value, and one that's very fast). It served its purpose in my stable. If this '18 TLX had been out, I would not have bought the Q50. As I told the dealer Sales Manager.."nothing wrong with it, but it's become more lux than sport, and it used to be the other way around."

This TLX is "in your face", but so's my Cobra. So, I seem to be leaning that way.

It tracks true with excellent control with good weighting. The seats really are sublime. They're bolstered and covered in creamy leather that feels good to the touch.

It's quick. It has red LED piping in the interior, on the dash, around the cup holders, on the doors, for ambiance. Not sure I can change colors, as some of you all can.

Brakes are strong and easily modulated. Steering wheels is fat (which I like).

SH AWD is great. Hit corners as hard as you can, no drama steering through them.

It's quick....not as quick as an S4 or a 340i, but still pretty damned quick. It makes great noises.

ELS Stereo is every bit as good (maybe better) than I remember. I was grinning during the test drive and driving it home last night. Haven't done that in a car in a very long time.

Acura has a hit on their hands.

graphicguy

graphicguy

OK....now I got the photos fixed....

graphicguy

graphicguy

graphicguy

Again, pics don't do justice, but the trim is all brushed metal (aluminum?). Very sharp.

graphicguy

The transmission in this application works great. It shifts to wherever you want it to, when it's supposed to, and it does so quickly and smoothly. No hunting! Acura and ZF must have had a good long "heart to heart" technical conversation.

driver100

WOW! Looks great and sounds like an incredible machine.
You are way more excited this time...so you made the right decision.
Love the red exterior and interior.....that is a very special car, wear it well.

graphicguy

Thanks, Driver. I like Acuras same as you like Mercedes. We all like what we like!

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

More to come....pics are messed up.

I knew it! LOL. Congratulations.

I saw the change to the list of cars under the post before the pictures...

Your son is right about changing cars. Sounds like a chip off the block in his logic.
The style of this Acura has nothing that grates against good styling. I see the style that should have been applied to the Civic when I see the new Acura.

abacomike

graphicguy said:

Thanks, Driver. I like Acuras same as you like Mercedes. We all like what we like!

GG, that car is exquisite - RED on RED - a true dream machine.  Acura did a superb job on designing every inch of that car!  What I am most proud of you for is that you went for instant GRATIFICATION!  A man after my own heart - good for you!

I wish you many, many years - oops, months- of complete and utter enjoyment in that gorgeous car!  

graphicguy

imidazol97 said:

graphicguy said:

More to come....pics are messed up.

I knew it! LOL. Congratulations.

I saw the change to the list of cars under the post before the pictures...

Your son is right about changing cars. Sounds like a chip off the block in his logic.
The style of this Acura has nothing that grates against good styling. I see the style that should have been applied to the Civic when I see the new Acura.

Thanks, IMID. Appreciate it.

Dealership had one NSX (roped off) in the showroom. They said they sold one, already and have a "person" who's looking to trade a BMW 6 Series Convertible for it. That's kind of an interesting move, but hard to debate the NSX. If I had the money and was able to have a 2nd daily driver, I'd be tempted.

I can see the current MDX and TLX styling extending to the ILX and RDX, too.

Why they're still making the RLX is beyond me. It seems like a half baked effort to me. They had 4 new ones in stock, and they look antiquated compared to the '18 TLX.

qbrozen

Congrats on the decision, GG. Good luck with it.

stickguy

Very snazzy. And definitely not boring!

I would have liked to sit in one Saturday but they were all outside. Eventually I'll get a chance. And I bet leftover 17s will be a heck of a bargain, until they run out!

stickguy

The new nose started on the latest Mdx. I assume the ILX and RDX both get redone soon. Both long in tooth, and followed their Honda mates by 1 MY, so since the CRV platform is new, RDX is seriously overdue

qbrozen

driver100 said:

I got this email about a look to the future. Just some of the highlights;

Most car companies will probably become bankrupt . Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies ( Tesla, Apple, Google ) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels . Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; are completely terrified of Tesla .
Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper . Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There are companies who will build a medical device (called the " Tricorder " from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breathe into it. It then analyses 54 bio-markers that will identify nearly any disease . It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medical analysis, nearly for free Goodbye, medical establishment

Business opportunities : If you think of a niche you want to go in, first ask yourself: "In the future, do I think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?

If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20 th century is doomed to failure in the 21 st century.

Work : 70-80 % of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a short time. This will require a rethink on wealth distribution.

There is more, but those are some of the big changes to think about.........

I can't get on board with most of that. For example, with the current administration and drama, I'm not sure Tesla can last. Second, its so common folks think things will happen so fast (70% of jobs gone and that tricorder thing), yet so incredibly rare that it actually happens that fast. BTW, self diagnosis and self prescribing just ain't gonna happen no matter what your phone does or says.

stickguy

Cars can't change that fast anyway.. plus, someone has to build them.

Medical? What could happen quickly is more DIY data collection, and doc visits virtually.

cdnpinhead

graphicguy said:

The deal actually came in exactly as I outlined it before. No runs, drips, errors or drama. Easy-Peazy!

That's the sort of thing that makes for lifelong loyalty to a dealer -- exactly what happened with my Forester purchase earlier this year.

Car sounds great. I've always liked red cars, but Honda paint doesn't hold up very well in the desert heat/sun. Maybe they've improved it, but in any event your climate will treat it better.

I've got 133K on my TSX. Here's wishing you the same trouble-free experience I've had for at least that many miles.

roadburner

@graphicguy- A fantastic car and a gorgeous color combination!

stickguy

I do like Acura. Glad to know they are getting some sales. They really have just needed, desperately, some improved product.

fintail

Congrats on the TLX. Not many modern cars have that much red - if you're into red, this must be a dream. Although the grille is still a bit brash, I like it more than the shield/beak, a feature that I never felt quite worked.

It's cool to see how design traits can still be a real thing - one look at the dash, especially center stack of that car says "Honda product". No doubt it will serve you well.

fintail

That's a fun list. IMO, some of that is real, some of it, I think is kind of pie in the sky, or like how boomer kids in 1962 thought we'd be living like the Jetsons by now.

Car companies bankrupt? Not until teleportation (and then I'll just hop in my MB teleporter ). No accidents? I don't believe autonomous cars will be flawless in that regard given that no software is flawless - if they ever become fully legal at all. It's not the accident part that makes me skeptical, either, but the lack of infraction part - there's a huge industry devoted to the discretionary enforcement of traffic laws (and the money that comes from said enforcement). It won't go down without a fight, or onerous taxes to keep it going.

Tricorder performing quality medical diagnoses? I will believe it when I see it.

Phones? Yes. Mobile access is the present and future of so much in terms of commerce and communication. If there's not an app for it, good luck.

Jobs - the elephant in the room that everyone still tries to ignore. IMO, population growth is exceeding decent job growth. I don't buy for a second that 80% of roles will become victims of automation/AI, but some will, and something will have to be done to compensate for it. The guaranteed minimum income idea that self-proclaimed bootstrappers moan about will likely have a foundation in reality.

driver100 said:

I got this email about a look to the future. Just some of the highlights;

Work : 70-80 % of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a short time. This will require a rethink on wealth distribution.

There is more, but those are some of the big changes to think about.........