Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

graphicguy

I made the cut. I have had Amazon Prime and NETFLIX along with an HD antenna for a couple of months. Haven’t missed cable or DIRECTV. For about $250/year, I have some of the best programming you can find on TV.

Michaell

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

andres3 said:

cdnpinhead said:

There have been dozens of self-driving vehicles in the southeastern portion of the "valley of the sun" running around for most of a year now. I think they belong to Google, but it could be something else, but not Uber. In any event, it's a rare day that I don't see one or more of them on my way to work or back. No news of any kind. Point being, the ones I've seen have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a peep of negative publicity. This Uber thing is a tempest in a teapot.

Gee, that never happens.

Maybe, but it's not like someone got bumped and bruised. A lady was killed.

Who here can raise there hand and say, I've also been involved in a fatal pedestrian collision?

We had a regular poster here who did. Operative word - "had". He no longer posts, as he got too busy with post-retirement plans.

Did his name begin with an "R" or is that another one?

That would be the one I'm thinking of.

houdini1

snakeweasel said:

bwia said:

Question for the military historians?

How on Earth did Germany pull off facing France, the UK, the US and the Soviet Union for six years? How could they pull so much above their own weight?

Don't know how they did it but even today Germany is punching above it's own weight class. It is the sphere of influence in Europe and a leader in automotive technology and manufacturing; precision instruments and heavy machinery; and civil engineering and construction. 

The melee that eventually turned into WWII started during the great depression. Countries really didn't have the resources to build up their military. Germany started in the mid thirties and got a head start on everyone else. Even up to the German invasion of France the Allies really weren't expecting much in the way of a war.

Stalin in his purges got rid of most of his command officers in his western armies who were replaced with junior officers with limited experience which made the Red Army facing the Germans very ineffective. A boy scout troop could have over run them.

The United States has historically maintained a small armed force that is supplemented by state militia unites in wartime. With large oceans and weak neighbors there really was no reason to maintain a large military.

Hitlers biggest mistake was not letting his generals run the war. Most of the German military blunders were the result of Hitlers direct orders. Another mistake of the Germans was that they operated under the beleif that they would be involved in a series of short reginal wars and that their objectives would be met quickly. Because of that they shelved many weapon programs that they thought would not be ready by the end of the war.

I do believe that if they went to a full total war economy, pushed their weapons development and let the generals run the war WWII in Europe would have been a lot different.

Japan, on the other hand, never had a chance.

If only frogs had wings....

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

andres3 said:

cdnpinhead said:

There have been dozens of self-driving vehicles in the southeastern portion of the "valley of the sun" running around for most of a year now. I think they belong to Google, but it could be something else, but not Uber. In any event, it's a rare day that I don't see one or more of them on my way to work or back. No news of any kind. Point being, the ones I've seen have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a peep of negative publicity. This Uber thing is a tempest in a teapot.

Gee, that never happens.

Maybe, but it's not like someone got bumped and bruised. A lady was killed.

Who here can raise there hand and say, I've also been involved in a fatal pedestrian collision?

We had a regular poster here who did. Operative word - "had". He no longer posts, as he got too busy with post-retirement plans.

Did his name begin with an "R" or is that another one?

That would be the one I'm thinking of.

I'm confused. What kind of vehicle does he drive?

bwia

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

andres3 said:

cdnpinhead said:

There have been dozens of self-driving vehicles in the southeastern portion of the "valley of the sun" running around for most of a year now. I think they belong to Google, but it could be something else, but not Uber. In any event, it's a rare day that I don't see one or more of them on my way to work or back. No news of any kind. Point being, the ones I've seen have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a peep of negative publicity. This Uber thing is a tempest in a teapot.

Gee, that never happens.

Maybe, but it's not like someone got bumped and bruised. A lady was killed.

Who here can raise there hand and say, I've also been involved in a fatal pedestrian collision?

We had a regular poster here who did. Operative word - "had". He no longer posts, as he got too busy with post-retirement plans.

Did his name begin with an "R" or is that another one?

That would be the one I'm thinking of.

I'm confused. What kind of vehicle does he drive?

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

fintail

Probably a low mileage lease with a huge initial payment and a base model car. Same for the latter deal - put 8K down on a Rio and get it cheap. Also must qualify for student, military, and senior citizen discounts, all at once.

stickguy said:

well, finally happened. Local news is on, and they just ran an ad for the local Kia dealer (definitely old school, no credit no problem, type of place), Screamer lease deal ($199/mo, did not catch any other terms) on a Stinger.

Though the ad that came on while I was typing this was a baby econo Kia for $45/mo!

ab348

abacomike said:

I have Netflix and I pay $10.99 a month for it.  Most of the stuff they offer stinks to high heaven (or it’s antithesis).  I watch 30 minutes of Netflix shows or movies and the storylines are so slow and boring one could vomit from it.

That's how I feel about it as well.

The cool kids like it because it has a ton of sci-fi/fantasy/medieval warfare etc CGI-fest shows. Those are why I don't watch much episodic TV any more.

dino001

All I can see is a scene from one of the Austin Powers movies, when the angry president runs to the button and everybody else jumps to stop him.

fintail said:

He probably believes a nuclear war is winnable, too. I like to think the praetorian sector will keep his little fingers away from that button.

If we go by what they say rather than what they do, the current head honcho might still not have much to go on. Endless distraction and half-baked ideas, and a newly filled swamp with the highest population density ever.

qbrozen

I like some of the Netflix Marvel stuff. And a few of their movies have been good. I think the best thing they offer, however, is bringing some foreign films to us that we would not see otherwise. 

fintail

That might be me later this year. Between Prime and Youtube, I can usually find something, and it is often just background noise already. I downgraded my cable package last year, and can't see why I wouldn't do it again. Funny thing with local offers though, the basic package is just a few dollars more than internet alone.

graphicguy said:

I made the cut. I have had Amazon Prime and NETFLIX along with an HD antenna for a couple of months. Haven’t missed cable or DIRECTV. For about $250/year, I have some of the best programming you can find on TV.

fintail

Maybe those little hands won't be able to reach or grasp much, and we'll be OK

We can just hope the few sane minds in the regime haven't been ousted (or locked up) by that time.

dino001 said:

All I can see is a scene from one of the Austin Powers movies, when the angry president runs to the button and everybody else jumps to stop him.

stickguy

GG, how do you get internet access for the streaming? And what does that cost stand alone?

tbirdmarco

 Mike I hear you on all the commercials I know all crazy specially all the drug companies with their drugs that they advertise and all the side effects or you could have your probably put off taking the drugs at all ha ha Ha 

tbirdmarco

 Home again today we had to dig it out still half to 14 inches of snow we got here biggest storm this year one in January was small in comparison hopefully this is it spring started on Tuesday ready for the car show season start in the New York auto show next Friday week from tomorrow 

tbirdmarco

 Don’t worry explore I couldn’t resist with my comment don’t worry you weren’t too harsh 

PF_Flyer

tbirdmarco said:

 Home again today we had to dig it out still half to 14 inches of snow we got here biggest storm this year one in January was small in comparison hopefully this is it spring started on Tuesday ready for the car show season start in the New York auto show next Friday week from tomorrow 

Snow almost made me forget about auto shows! I'm hoping to make it up to the NY show... assuming I don't have to dig out

jpp75

I cut the cord when I moved into my new building. I haven't missed cable one bit.

graphicguy

stickguy said:

GG, how do you get internet access for the streaming? And what does that cost stand alone?

I’m still on Spectrum as my ISP. I’m paying $45/mo for 128mbps (just tested, so that’s real time). That’s plenty of bandwidth.

I think I paid $40 for an HD antenna. It’s behind the TV so it can’t be seen. I’m getting local and CBS, NBC, ABC, etc from that. No other charges other than the antenna.

Amazon Prime runs me $100/year, but that also includes no charge 2 day shipping, and unlimited music streaming service. Both of those I use.....a lot! Like NETFLIX, they have some really good original programming.

NETFLIX runs me about $170/year, but that included the UHD TIER. If you don’t care about UHD, it is $144/year.

Aside from sports and CBS news shows, I can’t remember when I watched any “regular programming” from the big broadcasters.

andres3

jpp5862 said:

I cut the cord when I moved into my new building. I haven't missed cable one bit.

Ignorance is bliss? I think part of that is you can't miss what you don't know about.

That being said, I'm sure it is pretty easy to adapt and live without cable or satellite.

I wonder what teenagers would say today if you told them people lived without cell phones, even in recent times.

imidazol97

bwia said:

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

andres3 said:

cdnpinhead said:

There have been dozens of self-driving vehicles in the southeastern portion of the "valley of the sun" running around for most of a year now. I think they belong to Google, but it could be something else, but not Uber. In any event, it's a rare day that I don't see one or more of them on my way to work or back. No news of any kind. Point being, the ones I've seen have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a peep of negative publicity. This Uber thing is a tempest in a teapot.

Gee, that never happens.

Maybe, but it's not like someone got bumped and bruised. A lady was killed.

Who here can raise there hand and say, I've also been involved in a fatal pedestrian collision?

We had a regular poster here who did. Operative word - "had". He no longer posts, as he got too busy with post-retirement plans.

Did his name begin with an "R" or is that another one?

That would be the one I'm thinking of.

I'm confused. What kind of vehicle does he drive?

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

And a Cadillac SRX IIRC.

Mr_Shiftright

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Mike...if you are tired of TV ads pay the 410 a month and get Netflix....you won't want to watch regular TV ever again.

I have Netflix and I pay $10.99 a month for it.  Most of the stuff they offer stinks to high heaven (or it’s antithesis).  I watch 30 minutes of Netflix shows or movies and the storylines are so slow and boring one could vomit from it.

For most movies, I recommend that you start them 30 minutes into the story--that way, it's interesting to figure out what's going on. I discovered this while dating a woman who was always 30 minutes late for everything.
I still don't know the first 30 minutes of a lot of famous movies.

nyccarguy

graphicguy said:

stickguy said:

GG, how do you get internet access for the streaming? And what does that cost stand alone?

I’m still on Spectrum as my ISP. I’m paying $45/mo for 128mbps (just tested, so that’s real time). That’s plenty of bandwidth.

I think I paid $40 for an HD antenna. It’s behind the TV so it can’t be seen. I’m getting local and CBS, NBC, ABC, etc from that. No other charges other than the antenna.

Amazon Prime runs me $100/year, but that also includes no charge 2 day shipping, and unlimited music streaming service. Both of those I use.....a lot! Like NETFLIX, they have some really good original programming.

NETFLIX runs me about $170/year, but that included the UHD TIER. If you don’t care about UHD, it is $144/year.

Aside from sports and CBS news shows, I can’t remember when I watched any “regular programming” from the big broadcasters.

You don't have a landline?

ab348

@re

bwia said:

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

Now you're torturing me. I remember the garage door story and the retirement talk but cannot recall the name.

roadburner

graphicguy said:

I made the cut. I have had Amazon Prime and NETFLIX along with an HD antenna for a couple of months. Haven’t missed cable or DIRECTV. For about $250/year, I have some of the best programming you can find on TV.

We have Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, DIRECTV NOW, and an HD OTA antenna. Perfect for us.

stickguy

I might try it when we finally relocate. For now, we actually use the (cable) landline. And watch enough stuff on the cable (some local stations, so would not lose, but not all) to make it worthwhile. Plus, I am kinda lazy about figuring it all out.

I don't think I would switch to lots of amazon or netflix shows. Just watch less TV!

driver100

imidazol97 said:

bwia said:

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

andres3 said:

cdnpinhead said:

There have been dozens of self-driving vehicles in the southeastern portion of the "valley of the sun" running around for most of a year now. I think they belong to Google, but it could be something else, but not Uber. In any event, it's a rare day that I don't see one or more of them on my way to work or back. No news of any kind. Point being, the ones I've seen have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a peep of negative publicity. This Uber thing is a tempest in a teapot.

Gee, that never happens.

Maybe, but it's not like someone got bumped and bruised. A lady was killed.

Who here can raise there hand and say, I've also been involved in a fatal pedestrian collision?

We had a regular poster here who did. Operative word - "had". He no longer posts, as he got too busy with post-retirement plans.

Did his name begin with an "R" or is that another one?

That would be the one I'm thinking of.

I'm confused. What kind of vehicle does he drive?

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

And a Cadillac SRX IIRC.

Ford F150 and SRX are correct IIRC too!

stickguy

And a Chrysler convertible

driver100

People I talk to love Netflix. We hardly watched any TV before Netflix, now we always find a good series. You have to know what you like, and get some recommendations from people with similar taste.

We like a lot of British mystery series, they don't feel artificial or made by a committee or an accountant (sorry snake). They have real people in real situations. I hesitate to recommend any because tastes vary, but Broadchurch and Happy Valley are a good place to start. Really like the Australian lawyer series Rake.....he is a dope taking lawyer who defends the worst people around. Always watch with close captioning.

abacomike

Just got a text from my son - he gave me instructions on how to access one of his local TV stations in order to see my grandson, Dylan, pitch. He pitched a complete game and won. If any of you are interested in seeing a quick 45 second clip of my grandson pitching, you can see it by following these instructions:

On your computer, go to KESQ.com
Next click on "sports" and then click on the news feed for Palm Desert/La Quinta (PD/LQ) baseball and softball.
He plays for Palm Desert, which is the second clip after La Quinta. Let me know if you get a chance to watch him pitch two balls and then let me know what you thought of him.

driver100

abacomike said:

Just got a text from my son - he gave me instructions on how to access one of his local TV stations in order to see my grandson, Dylan, pitch. He pitched a complete game and won. If any of you are interested in seeing a quick 45 second clip of my grandson pitching, you can see it by following these instructions:

On your computer, go to KESQ.com
Next click on "sports" and then click on the news feed for Palm Desert/La Quinta (PD/LQ) baseball and softball.
He plays for Palm Desert, which is the second clip after La Quinta. Let me know if you get a chance to watch him pitch two balls and then let me know what you thought of him.

Looks like a really good pitcher.................where did he get this talent from....can you take any credit?

roadburner

Here's an interesting article on Mercedes returning to the optimum six cylinder configuration.

Does anyone remember an EE on the old Lincoln LS forum who fancied himself an expert on all things automotive? In addition to proclaiming that only cars with poorly designed braking systems needed brake fluid changes, he argued vehemently that a V6 was superior to an inline six. I wish he was still around so I could ask him about this...

abacomike

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

Just got a text from my son - he gave me instructions on how to access one of his local TV stations in order to see my grandson, Dylan, pitch. He pitched a complete game and won. If any of you are interested in seeing a quick 45 second clip of my grandson pitching, you can see it by following these instructions:

On your computer, go to KESQ.com
Next click on "sports" and then click on the news feed for Palm Desert/La Quinta (PD/LQ) baseball and softball.
He plays for Palm Desert, which is the second clip after La Quinta. Let me know if you get a chance to watch him pitch two balls and then let me know what you thought of him.

Looks like a really good pitcher.................where did he get this talent from....can you take any credit?

Unfortunately, I cannot take any credit for his athleticism. My son has been working closely with him since he was in T-Ball. Dylan got very interested in becoming a pitcher and worked on throwing mechanisms and form coached closely by my son - my son pitched for a farm team of the Dodgers many years ago but unfortunately hurt his back and had to end his professional sports career.

When Dylan entered High School in La Quinta, my son became his pitching coach because the coaches at the high school were not working with his form and mechanics correctly. About two years ago, it became obvious that he was a very gifted pitcher and hitter, especially when he got to be over 6 foot tall. So, my son had Dylan transfer to Palm Desert High School where the coaching was superior and much better suited to his needs. My son continues to be his personal pitching coach.

Late in the baseball season last year, he was being scouted closely by many Colleges and Universities as well as several major league teams. This past December, he was offered several scholarships - two in Division I schools and several in Division III schools. After considering the offers and taking advice from the coaches as well as investigating what Dylan wanted, they decided to go with a Division III college for one main reason - Dylan wants to play baseball and does not want to sit on the bench for two years. His contract for the scholarship he accepted states that he will be a starting pitcher his Freshman year, and in his 3 remaining years, he will pitch and play first base because they want to take advantage of his outstanding hitting skills - he hits lots of home runs and is very strong (6'4" tall and weighs 225 lbs). He works ouit every day.

So, it is really my son and Dylan's genetics that are the reasons for his success so far.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

@re

bwia said:

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

Now you're torturing me. I remember the garage door story and the retirement talk but cannot recall the name.

AB348 Check your instant messages here on Edmunds.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

ab348 said:

@re

bwia said:

I believe it was a Ford F-150. And even before he bought the truck he messed up his garage door trying to fit in the BST (Big Scary Truck)

Now you're torturing me. I remember the garage door story and the retirement talk but cannot recall the name.

AB348 Check your instant messages here on Edmunds.

Got it, thanks. Now I remember. Hope he is doing OK now.

andres3

More importantly about speeding autonomous cars, can we just make the speeding fine for autonomous drivers $100,000 to help subsidize human drivers speeding tickets down to $10!

Who pays the ticket when an autonomous car is caught speeding? My company won't reimburse for parking tickets.

imidazol97

I saw the uber video. Of driver had been looking forward, she could have slammed ok brakes to mitigate the damage from spec of impact. She was texting or reading.

jmonroe

andres3 said:

More importantly about speeding autonomous cars, can we just make the speeding fine for autonomous drivers $100,000 to help subsidize human drivers speeding tickets down to $10!

Who pays the ticket when an autonomous car is caught speeding? My company won't reimburse for parking tickets.

What the he'll are you on, anyhow?

jmonroe

andres3

jmonroe said:

andres3 said:

More importantly about speeding autonomous cars, can we just make the speeding fine for autonomous drivers $100,000 to help subsidize human drivers speeding tickets down to $10!

Who pays the ticket when an autonomous car is caught speeding? My company won't reimburse for parking tickets.

What the he'll are you on, anyhow?

jmonroe

Why do you ask? Want some?

cdnpinhead

ab348 said:

Now you're torturing me. I remember the garage door story and the retirement talk but cannot recall the name.

Richard -- someone with whom I exchanged a few prickly messages early on but eventually came to enjoy immensely.

He had a Cadillac SUV (not the Escalade, the smaller one) that he drove across the country, then the pickup truck mentioned earlier. I miss his messages and am sad that we haven't been able to keep up with him.

andres3

imidazol97 said:

I saw the uber video. Of driver had been looking forward, she could have slammed ok brakes to mitigate the damage from spec of impact. She was texting or reading.

I don't disagree that the driver was useless. Mitigating the damage isn't avoiding the damage/collision though. Therefore, I think I'm right in saying the collision would not have been prevented; though should have been lessened.

My real theory is that the camera video sensors have very poor light pickup sensitivity, and therefore very poor night vision sensitivity, and makes it seem like the lady was invisible until the headlights were on her legs. I have a feeling the cameras and video were designed to be that way in order to enhance the appearance and credibility of autonomous drivers when things like this happen.

Regardless, radar is supposed to work at night without the help of light.

Lastly, don't hand someone an autonomous driving car and expect them to be a responsible driver.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VgIEOTL0964

cdnpinhead

I've been paying closer attention today, and the self-driving vehicles that are so numerous here in Tempe and Chandler are affiliated with Google -- Waymo is the label on the cars. I saw somewhere that they've accumulated 3.5 million miles so far. All self-driving vehicle programs are not the same, though expecting today's news media to figure that out and report it accurately falls into the tooth fairy category.

imidazol97

STudied the Uber video more during the car show Marco posted...

The headlights from the Volvo don't seem very good. Maybe it's the visual light range camera that's recording that makes it seem the headlights aren't good.

The radar on the car didn't sense the metal in the bicycle? What if that had been an Elantra crossing? Would the Volvo have sensed its presence? Between the body and the bicycle, the car should have applied brakes to reduce speed, mitigating damage if not stopping or swerving.

AND the human eye of the driver should have seen the jaywalker approaching from the left before the camera, which may be less sensitive, found them.. I still say the driver is at fault. If nothing else, reducing vehicle speed before impact would have allowed the driver to live after the impact.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

JM said: I'm not impressed with German technology in cars. Most people don't want to own one when they are out of warranty other than to show off the badge. Reliability is more important to me.

I will just address this part of your essay. Germans take great pride in quality workmanship. Quality has to be of a certain standard or it won't make it. A German luxury car can last as long as any other car. Better - more expensive cars have more engineering and finer tuning, so more could go wrong. When you try new things it is expensive...others can copy for a lot less. If you want real reliability buy a Toyota....good solid old style tried and true technology....but, not very exciting.

Some of us have passion, a soul, and we appreciate a finely made precision engineered car, and will pay extra to drive it....because you only live once (as far as I know).

I have a theory on why Germany lost WWII. They couldn't figure out how to work their equipment. Why do they make things unnecessarily complex?

I was thrilled to drive my first BMW today, a nice white X3. Drove ok , especially in sport mode but I didn't get any special feel of the road. Interior was nicely done but the seats gave poor lumbar support and my back hurt after 3 hours.

It was the switch gear that drove me crazy. Even after poking at it for hours I couldn't figure out the radio. There were multiple buttons labeled "mode" that I pushed and twisted until a station came in but I couldn't get comfortable with it. I couldn't figure how you locked the doors until someone pointed out the lock button on the fob was the BMW logo. Huh? The unlock button was the traditional unlock icon so why be cute?

I even had trouble figuring how to ajustment the mirrors. The button that looked like a mirror ajustment folded them in against the car while the selector button had no markings at all.

Don't get me wrong, it was a nice car but I can see why they had to hire RB to explain them to people.

andres3

imidazol97 said:

STudied the Uber video more during the car show Marco posted...

The headlights from the Volvo don't seem very good. Maybe it's the visual light range camera that's recording that makes it seem the headlights aren't good.

The radar on the car didn't sense the metal in the bicycle? What if that had been an Elantra crossing? Would the Volvo have sensed its presence? Between the body and the bicycle, the car should have applied brakes to reduce speed, mitigating damage if not stopping or swerving.

AND the human eye of the driver should have seen the jaywalker approaching from the left before the camera, which may be less sensitive, found them.. I still say the driver is at fault. If nothing else, reducing vehicle speed before impact would have allowed the driver to live after the impact.

You almost had a like, as for the most part you agreed with me and said what I have said!!! Then you blew it with your anti-speed diatribe propaganda!

1) Agreed the headlights seem poor. Probably an effect of UBER issuing a "cheap" video feed and camera footage.

2) Correct maneuver here would have been a quick emergency 1/2 lane change into the adjacent lane to the left. I don't think braking is the right correction unless the computer could determine there was enough time to brake to avoid the whole incident. A swerve would have avoided the lady resulting in no collision and taken much less time to execute than "braking to a stop." No other cars appear to have been anywhere close to the scene. Should be easy to swerve at 40 MPH; even a mediocre driver should handle that.

3) Agreed human eyes would have seen more sooner.

4) The pedestrian being hit by a slower speed would not have prevented the collision. It is PURE speculation that the pedestrian would have lived had the driver slowed down. This is where you went off the boat!
I don't like pure speculation; only certainty. Have we found any credible information on the speed limit and vehicular speed at time of impact?

Remember, your Vision-Zero cohorts are saying 20 MPH is the "live to tell the tale" speed for a pedestrian. I don't think we are anywhere reasonably close to that here.

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

JM said: I'm not impressed with German technology in cars. Most people don't want to own one when they are out of warranty other than to show off the badge. Reliability is more important to me.

I will just address this part of your essay. Germans take great pride in quality workmanship. Quality has to be of a certain standard or it won't make it. A German luxury car can last as long as any other car. Better - more expensive cars have more engineering and finer tuning, so more could go wrong. When you try new things it is expensive...others can copy for a lot less. If you want real reliability buy a Toyota....good solid old style tried and true technology....but, not very exciting.

Some of us have passion, a soul, and we appreciate a finely made precision engineered car, and will pay extra to drive it....because you only live once (as far as I know).

I have a theory on why Germany lost WWII. They couldn't figure out how to work their equipment. Why do they make things unnecessarily complex?

I was thrilled to drive my first BMW today, a nice white X3. Drove ok , especially in sport mode but I didn't get any special feel of the road. Interior was nicely done but the seats gave poor lumbar support and my back hurt after 3 hours.

It was the switch gear that drove me crazy. Even after poking at it for hours I couldn't figure out the radio. There were multiple buttons labeled "mode" that I pushed and twisted until a station came in but I couldn't get comfortable with it. I couldn't figure how you locked the doors until someone pointed out the lock button on the fob was the BMW logo. Huh? The unlock button was the traditional unlock icon so why be cute?

I even had trouble figuring how to ajustment the mirrors. The button thst looked like a mirror ajustment folded them in against the car while the elector button had no markings at all.

Don't get me wrong, it was a nice car but I can see why they had to hire RB to explain them to people.

It's an insider's clique. You have to be in the "know." Did you know VW uses the rear badge "VW" as a trunk handle?

explorerx4

One of my kids worked for a company that did marketing for BMW about 5 years ago,
She was very familiar with a variety of their models and she was responsible for 9 vehicles at one point for a few months(ok one was a Mini).
When she worked at the Amelia Island event, the President of BMWUSA handed her the keys to all the new Rollers being introduced at the time.
When she went to buy her first new car, I thought for sure it would be a BMW, but she stayed in the family.
I went with her to buy it and let her do 99% of the negotiation.
It was fun for me to see your kid being a grownup.

jmonroe

andres3 said:

I don't like pure speculation; only certainty.

For once I agree with you...almost.

I don't like "speculation" either, that's the agreement part.

So, correlating the "certainty" part of this to your life, it is a certainty that when you speed you will get a ticket. And it is a certainty that this ticket will disrupt your life while you fight it through the CA court system. Going a little further, it is a certainty that you will not learn anything from your speeding episodes.

I don't want to go any farther with this because we have a poster buddy in here that thinks my posts are too long.

jmonroe

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

I was thrilled to drive my first BMW today, a nice white X3. Drove ok , especially in sport mode but I didn't get any special feel of the road. Interior was nicely done but the seats gave poor lumbar support and my back hurt after 3 hours.

It was the switch gear that drove me crazy. Even after poking at it for hours I couldn't figure out the radio. There were multiple buttons labeled "mode" that I pushed and twisted until a station came in but I couldn't get comfortable with it. I couldn't figure how you locked the doors until someone pointed out the lock button on the fob was the BMW logo. Huh? The unlock button was the traditional unlock icon so why be cute?

I even had trouble figuring how to ajustment the mirrors. The button that looked like a mirror ajustment folded them in against the car while the selector button had no markings at all.

Don't get me wrong, it was a nice car but I can see why they had to hire RB to explain them to people.

It wasn't that. The reason is simple. You weren't registered with the car as a driver. Just like when you change a battery or a light bulb, you need to tell the car that this new thing is OK before it will work.

stickguy

OF, I agree with you on going in cold to a new BMW. A few weeks ago, my BIL (the A'dam one) drove down to my house and left their car here, and I dropped them at the philly airport. I had him stash their car in the garage to get it out of the way. But, day before they got back, I needed to take it out. Took a crazy amount of time to figure it all out (partly getting it into reverse, then getting the mirrors unfolded).

not a great car to pick up late on a rainy night at the airport rental lot!

Oh, it was a few year old X5.