There was a bit more to the agreement. BMW got just the RR badge. VW got both RR and Bentley industrial facilities, Bentley's badge and right to sell existing (then) models (I think it was called Cornishe) for next three (or so) years. In the meantime, BMW built new facilities and design team from scratch and designed brand new cars, as well, also from scratch. Other than Spirit of Extasy badge, there is no connection to previous models prior the acquisitions.
Yes, I understand, but I believe the cars must still have final assembly points in Great Brittain. I saw a special on one of the cable channels about Rolls Royce and the intricasies they go through to build these cars. Every Rolls is custom built to order specifications. They do not build "spec" cars. For a dealer to have inventory (which I understand is a rarity because these cars are sold 1 year ahead of production), they must submit an order for the car(s). If you want to order your own car, and wait the year, you can do that. But it makes more sense to buy one from a dealer's inventory.
I was up to Brahman Rolls/Bentley in Palm Beach last month when I was looking at cars, and they have several in inventory you can buy right away. I asked about discount from MSRP and the salesman looked at me and just laughed. He said they usually "add" to the MSRP of the vehicle in most dealerships, but he said their dealership just sells them for MSRP. As for the Bentleys, he said I could negotiate a little. So I guess that says something about Rolls vs. Bentley.
There are over 200 exterior colors you can order and over 250 interior leathers you can order by color and quality and grain. You can also order from an array of wood grains for the interior dash, side panels and rear panels, and you can customize the front and rear seats. It's truly one of the very last automobiles you can literally build from scratch.
Ahhhhhhh, to have a few hundred million and buy a Rolls for your summer home and your winter home, and a 150 foot cruiser to live on in the Mediterranean.
I wonder if the sons and daughters of multi-millionaires and billionaires truly appreciate what they can do with their inherited money? It wouldn't take me long to write up a list of my wants - turn the list over to a broker - and wait for the goodies to start arriving. Must be nice!!!
Rolls-Royce has received 1,500 firm orders for the Ghost. Deliveries in the United States, where it typically sells 35 to 40 percent of its cars, begin in April 2010. Worldwide sales of the Phantom totaled 1,012 cars last year. The carmaker says that 80 percent of its buyers are new to the brand and that most of them are highly successful entrepreneurs who love cars. And 90 percent of them drive themselves (so much for the "old-money limousine" cliché).
Pictures look good, but I don't get "excited" over pictures. Now put me in the front driver's seat, I'd have to clean up after myself!
I am not particularly impressed with that shiny aluminum hood. I prefer a solid color. I've seen the car in Maroon/Beige, White/Saddle, Black/Saddle, a SilverTan/Brown, Silver/Black and Navy/Beige. Brahman Motors shows a new Ghost at the mall every month and right next to the Ghost, the always have a Bentley Convertible. This month, the Bentley is White/Saddle and the Rolls is Black/Beige.
A Jaguar dealership usually show an XJ or XJL (long wheelbase). I just have not been able to appreciate that car. Too low and the rear seating area has no headroom. I've driven an S550 recently, but I prefer the 7 Series (750iL) over the S Class. I mentioned that my brother just got an S Class coupe (I think they call it an SC) with the bi-turbo 6.3 liter engine. He told me he got a great deal on it (MSRP is almost $140,000). If I had $140,000 give or take $20,000), I'd borrow the rest and get the Ghost.
Thank goodness I don't have that kind of money to throw away on a car. This E350 is the most I've ever spent on a car (MSRP $64860, paid $57,500). I wouldn't spend any more on a car. If it weren't for the USAA special pricing, I'd be driving a Cadillac CTS or a Buick Lucerne, something around the $40,000 level. I might also have purchased an Audi A6.
If I put my mind to it, I begin to remember situations when I was in the car business. I just remembered one that took place during the last few months when I was a sales manager.
One of my salespeople was working on a deal on one of our mid sized luxury cars. I became involved because they wanted more for their trade than I was giving them. The trade they had was a 1 year old Audi A6, black with black leather seats. It was a 3.0 Quatro which I had appraised at $39,500 because it had been involved in a fender bender. I noticed it had been repainted on the right rear quarter panel and the CAFAX showed it had been hit in the rear. The husband and wife were about 40 or so years old.
So, I explained to them that I could not offer them any more for their trade because of a repaint and previous damage on the right rear quarter panel. Of course they denied it but that's why I always pulled a CARFAX On every car I appraised - just on case of situations like this or if I had overlooked something on the car. I showed them the CARFAX and all of a sudden their memories got better about a minor accident they had 2 weeks after buying the car. They accepted my appraisal and we agreed on a price for the new car.
They told me they did not owe much on their Audi, but when I pulled their credit report, it was flagged for the customers not having made 4 consecutive payments on the car to the bank, and the report showed they owed $41,000+ on the Audi, more than it was worth. At least I now knew why they wanted out of the Audi.
I explained the credit report to them and that with their poor credit report (454 beacon score) I would not be able to sell them a car. The husband explained that their was some foul-up with the credit reporting agency, so I pulled two more credit reports with TransUnion and Eqifax. Both of those reports were just as bad, which I explained to the customers. At just that moment, one of my other salespeople told me there was a tow truck in our front parking lot backing up toward the Audi. We all ran over just in time to see the tow truck extend it's fork lift I see the Audi and towed it right off my lot.
The customers saw this and the wife turned to the husband and said, "...I told you to buy a new car last week and this is what happens when you don't listen to me!"
The calmly walked over to me and asked if I could drive them home because they had no money to take a cab. I accommodated that request but I learned something that evening - a car can be repossessed at any time, from any place, and in less than 30 seconds. I never heard from those people again!
We all ran over just in time to see the tow truck extend it's fork lift I see the Audi and towed it right off my lot.
Now, that's what I call an awkward moment! Unbelievable what some people will do....reminds me of my neighbor.
He comes over and says he will plant 12 foot cedars so we won't be able to see him swimming in his stupid pool. So, me being the nice guy I am I let him drive the caterpillar onto my lawn so he can get the rock dug out of his pool. There is about an inch of dust from the cut rock all over the side of our house and the windows. So, his wife comes over with an envelope and says they are sorry for causing so much dust, and they are giving us a check so we can wash our windows. Meantime, he has put is about 4 5 foot tall cedars that do nothing, and one anemic looking 12 foot cedar that looks like it will die. He promised a row of 6 to 8 cedars and he plants one, and then he wants to buy us off with a check for probably $100. I gave them back the envelope and told them the check doesn't help and I won't accept it.
They were sitting around the pool today, he had a stogy and a can of beer and just sat there like he was living the high life.
I am going to buy a Speedo, and when they are out there relaxing by the pool I am going to crank up the stereo and do some dance moves with my can of beer and go out on my deck and practice doing the moon walk.
That's hysterical. The best part was "you should have bought another car last week", just like nothing was wrong otherwise. Some people have no shame and don't learn at all. Basically everybody out there is a mark, one way or another. One mark will give them a car for a few months, another will finance their ride home.
I am going to buy a Speedo, and when they are out there...
*driver, one thing I learned when I owned two homes in the suburbs in the Chicago area was to never get too friendly with your adjacent neighbors nor make an enemy with any of them! Remember, you can only choose your neighbors at this point in your life by buying a new home in a new area after interviewing every neighbor before your purchase.
Since you won't be choosing your neighbors now, my suggestion is either to ignore them, or you can ignore them, or you can ignore them, or you can ignore them, etc. Are you getting the hint? All you can do now is make things worse, not better, so accept what you have now and grit your teeth and ignore them.
Yep, that was the only amusing part of that situation. They both knew the gig was up and if the husband had done what she told him to do the week before, the only thing that would have changed is that they would still be driving ghat Audi. No one was going to sell them a car, even the week before. They just didn't get it, did they?
As for the ride home, it was either get the salesperson to take them home or listen to them arguing iny showroom for an hour or two until they could get one of their friends or neighbors to pick them up. I made the right decision to get them out of there.
Before that experience, I had never seen a car physically repo'd. It is just amazing how fast they extended those forks under the rear of the car, lifted the rear of the car off the ground, and we're gone in less than 30 seconds. It gives you the heebee jeebees at the thought of a highjacker grabbing your car from a shopping mall parking lot and making off with it! Scary thought, isn't it?
Who thinks driver is going to drive to Canada's southern most BMW dealer for his free oil change? HA!
Speaking of high priced cars that we could afford if we pooled our money together, I had the distinct pleasure (thanks to my in laws, groupon, & GT Dream Cars) of driving a Ferrari F430 around a road course style race track (4 laps) @ raceway park in Englishtown, NJ. All I can say is WOW! The car was absolutely unreal. The fact that I was able to experience it on a track made the drive even more special.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
*nyccarguy, we don't "speak" of high-priced cars, we "drool", which is a big difference. When you drove that Ferrari, did you "speak" or did you "drool"? When I stopped by the mall to see the Ghost, did I "speak" or did I "drool" along with excretions of precious bodily fluids (I'm good at cleaning up language)?
All kidding aside, a couple of the stores in the Aventura Mall in north Miami Beach have some interesting cars in se of their windows. They have a Ferrari store that sells Ferrari shirts, clothes, pens, shoes, etc., and they have a red Ferrari formula 1 race car sitting right in the front. Another store has a classic 1930'ish Bugatti racing car. PRICELESS!
my suggestion is either to ignore them, or you can ignore them,
I think that is good advice. We will continue to add trees until we can no longer see the back of their house and part of their swimming pool.
I couldn't be friendly with these people if I wanted to be, they have broken the trust good neighbors need to have. When they went away on vacations we looked after their plants and brought in their mail......they are on their own now.
Who thinks driver is going to drive to Canada's southern most BMW dealer for his free oil change? HA!
LOL....I have a plan A and B, now I think I am on C or D.
Plan A: I called the dealer and they said they wouldn't change the oil until the car indicated it was time. Cost of an oil change $190. (not too bad really, because most cars would have needed 4 oil changes by now).
Plan B; I emailed BMW of Canada who wrote back, the car will be under warranty still if I get an oil change in the US, but they won't be responsible for the cost. They did say I could take the receipt to the dealer and they may reimburse me....ha, fat chance of that ever happening!
Plan C: I can go about 5000 more miles before I need an oil change. I will put on 2000 miles in Oct and Dec with normal driving. The trip to Florida will add about 1600 miles, so that will make it a total of 3600 miles. On one site they said oil changes were $100 to $120 in the US. I'd rather give my money to BMW USA than the horse thieves in Canada, and the timing would make more sense. If I do it now it will come up at the wrong time of year again next time.
I am beginning to like the Audi maintenance plan better. Oil changes at 6K miles, you can buy their plan or not. If I had a choice I would not have bought the plan for the BMW.
ATTN FEZO: I don't think NOV 14 is a good date to choose for the date my engine seizes up. We will be flying to Florida for Nov, so the engine would have to seize up on it's own in the garage.
My house is the last house before a sunken down cul-de-sac (sp?). My neighbor's house behind me sits about 3-4 feet lower than mine. There is a concrete retaining wall across my entire backyard. You can't see it from my yard, but very noticeable from his (side of his house).
The previous owners had planted a tree in the corner of my yard which as it grew damaged the corner of the wall. He came to me about it. I explained that I hadn't noticed, but what did he want me to do.
He said let's make it easy.......
You take out the tree and clean it all up and I'll have the wall fixed (so then I could also fix my fence which the tree damaged).
Well, you guessed it. Within a week I had the tree down, disposed of and the loose concrete blocks hauled away. This was over a year ago and he has done nothing. He also avoids me like the plague.
This was over a year ago and he has done nothing. He also avoids me like the plague.
I am losing my faith in humanity. You would think it would be easy to get along with neighbors so every one can enjoy their property to the max.
Your neighbor was ignorant, but the worst one I know of lived next to my S-I-L. His house was in a new sub-division. For the safety of the kids all the neighbors got together and got the price of fencing...got a good rate if they all did it and it would be all the same.
"The neighbor from hell" decided if he didn't pay for the fence he would end up with one anyway. So, he said, if you guys want fences go ahead...and of course he got a free fence.
Then, when my S-I-L put his house up for sale, the neighbor put up a For Sale by Owner sign on his front lawn. When people came with a realtor to see my S-I-Ls house, the neighbor would invite people into his house. He offered his for less, and his house sold first.
The price of an oil change in Canada is $190 plus 13% sales tax. The dealership in Florida is $117 plus probably 5 or 6% sales tax (help me here Mike).
But, the main thing is the timing works out so well, and it is the dealer that we also bought the Passat from. And, to top it off, these weasels in Canada lose out on making a few bucks ha ha.
I'm afraid I can't, *driver. Sales tax is set by the county. Miami-Dade is 7%, Palm Beach is 6.5%, and Broward is 6%. I believe the State sales tax is 5% + whatever the county tacks on.
I buy my cars in Palm Beach County, but because I live in Broward (depends on where the car is registered), I only pay 6% of the difference between the trade and net new vehicle cost.
An oil/filter change should not be more than $100 at a dealer. Since I buy lots of cars from my MB dealer, I pay fleet price, or $89.00, instead of $129.95.
I would still change the oil on you BMW and not wait for the 15,000 miles!
my guess? He made the deal before bothering to find out how brutally expensive repairing or replacing a retaining wall was. Not always a quick patch, they might have to pull it down.
But, what the heck. If it lets go, your back yard ends up in his house, not yours!
someone was talking about RR and Bentley recently.
I stopped at the bank last night which happens to be right next to (shares a parking lot) a nice local steak house. That valet parks. And right in front next to the exit, they had matching black bentleys parked. A coupe and Convertible (Both GTCs). made the new 7 series BMW next to them look plebeian.
Not always a quick patch, they might have to pull it down.
You may be right. It's not an easy fix. After the wedding I am thinking about working something out with him. Since it's such an old neighborhood no one has any recall of whose wall it really is. It really does split the property line down the middle of it.
Frankly, I've thought of doing a "redneck" repair to it (amazing what 2 pressure treated 2 x 12s and some Tapcon screws can do), backfilling and fixing the section of chain link fence.
I would still change the oil on you BMW and not wait for the 15,000 miles!
It says in the manual the car has been designed with the latest technology so it can go 15k miles. Actually, the monitor is saying I won't need an oil change until I reach 18000 miles. If I get it in Florida it will be at the 15k mile mark.
The warranty will be good, and the chances of me keeping the car once the 4 year warranty is up are not great. Usually, I am on the safe side with most things, but for this I am not concerned. If I knew this was going to happen I would have done my oil change at 10K miles, but, since I'd rather have it done in Florida anyway, it works out fine for me. I like the dealership in Florida, a salesman showed us the new BMWs and taught me some things about mine that my dealer didn't show me (you can open the trunk if you have the key in your pocket, and you wave your foot under the rear bumper.....nice if you have packages).
...unless they are able to more quickly develop the hydrogen fuel cell for engines. BMW has been testing a fleet of 7 Series vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell technology in California for the past several years. I don't know the results, thus far, or whether they consider the hydrogen fuel cell a reasonable alternative worthy of continued experimentation.
Thus far hydrogen has not made any real inroads as an alternative fuel. The issues are cost, infrastructure and the fact that most of the hydrogen produced comes from natural gas or coal.
Frankly, I've thought of doing a "redneck" repair to it
That was my idea too. My wife has put in about $5000 worth of trees to block the view of his pool and the back of their house. It works about 80%, but not as good as the 30 foot trees this moron cut down.
My idea was...there is a 5 foot metal chain link fence there now. On my side I would put a 12 foot high wooden fence. On his side, I would paint some designs on it in bright red, yellow and orange. See how he likes staring at that!
ATTN MIKE: I think you are right when you say to ignore them, if you get into arguements they only escalate. I learned that from my wife, the family therapist. However, what do you do if they are walking their dog toward us and we are going the other way? We used to stop and talk, but, I don't have much I want to say to him. Do I ignore them completely or do I say "Hi"?
You can choose to act however you wish, but IMHO just wave and continue on.
By not accepting their check to clean your siding you basically sent your message. I know if someone did that to me I would have been highly offended. In all fairness I would have hired someone to clean it (or make the person responsible for it, clean it).
I wouldn't do anything to escalate the situation. The damage is done, you have done everything you can to fix the issue on your end. I think in time this will bother you less.
> do that to me and every other lover of Chick-Fil-A!
Just returned from picking up two day's of Pure Michigan. I actually checked Chick-Fil-A's site for locations along I-75 Ohio up to Canton-Plymouth area (west edge of Wayne County). One in Toledo a mile off I-75 and only 1 in Michigan, appears to be on campus at Oakland College. So no happiness there in case we needed sustinance on the way home Monday.
The draw for me is good. Strips have some oil content, carrot raisen salad is good for my eyes, so I avoid the dips for the strips because they add to the fat content. But it's one place to go in, get a free senior drink with refills, eat, and leave sated.
I am losing my faith in humanity. You would think it would be easy to get along with neighbors so every one can enjoy their property to the max.
You can always do as a fellow employee told me, years ago, how they do it when you have a farm in a rural area. He said we don’t have the disputes that you development dwellers have. We talk out our differences (usually barb wire fence, water and pond things) and everything is taken care of because if it ain’t the SOB will be shot and they know damn well the body will never be found.
Let me emphasize, I’m not condoning this but it does allow for quick resolution. It also explains why you don’t hear of missing farmers. The term today is “gone missing” but you get the point.
Maybe our resident farmer can add a little more about this.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
My local Tampa BMW dealer uses $200 as their minimum price for any service. So it is $200 for oil change, $200 for wheel alignment ( :surprise: ), $200 for engine cleaning solution run. Pretty outrageous. Wonder if other dealers have same prices.
Driver, I never mentioned it but we had the neighbor from hell next door to our last house in Pinehurst. When we purchased the house, we built a beautiful split rail fence that blended in with the wooded rear yard at a cost of $5,000. This was necessary because we had our beloved Lab at the time. Our neighbor walked over two days after we moved in and told us that he didn't like fences of any kind. I explained that we had a dog and that we knew that he also had one. He said that their dog roamed freely and that no fence was needed. I reminded him that the village had leash laws and that we weren't going to allow our dog to run around the neighborhood. The neighbor stormed off in a huff.
A few days later the village manager showed up at our door claiming that our neighbor said that our fence was over on his property. I showed the manager the survey papers and the blue print for the installed fence. Our fence was even four feet inside of our property line. The manager said not to worry because they had had problems with this guy before. About a week after that, I noticed that 3 or 4 of the fence rails had fallen down. I called the fence company to come out and repair them. I was a bit ticked off because I had spent $5K on this nice fence. The company's owner called to my attention that the rails had been SAWED OFF! Guess who came to mind? I called the neighbor to ask if he knew who might have done it. Naturally, he didn't have a clue. I did say that the next time that a rail was sawed off, I was going to get the police department to investigate. Result: No more missing rails.
Another problem with these neighbors was that they would walk over any time that a service person came to our house. They would talk with the lawn guy, the cable guy, the electrician, the plumber, etc. They would ask the service guys what they were doing and why. If I walked outside, the neighbors would walk away quickly. About a year later, we ran into the former owners of our house who were visiting in the village. I asked them about our neighbors. They said that those people were one of the reasons that they put the house on the market. They had encountered similar problems. I must say that while we miss our other neighbors, we certainly don't miss the ones next door. On moving day, they brought out lawn chairs and watched the movers all day. I told my wife that if they dared walk over and tried to talk to the movers, I was going to blow their doors off big time. :mad:
...we built a beautiful split rail fence that blended in with the wooded rear yard at a cost of $5,000. This was necessary because we had our beloved Lab at the time.
Not to be a jerk but what good would a split rail fence if the goal was to keep a dog in the yard?
I doubt that very much, *driver. Losing your faith in neighbors who do not respect you and your property, I can see you losing faith in that. But, faith in humanity is really all we have left, *driver - am I right?
With all that is happening in our countries (US and Canada) with the financial crisis, and what is happening in the Islamic countries, it is easy to lose faith in humanity. But we must persevere! Unfortunately, what most of the world sees as being fair and equitable is not necessarily so.
Russia, China, Southeast Asia, the MIddle East, North Africa, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, etc., see things from a different perspective. The Islamic revolutionaries see us as infidels and should be destroyed. Russia nd China see us as trading adversaries and must be beaten down. Some of the European countries are so socialistic, all they want to do is take from those who have and give it all to those who don't. South America is filled with countries on the verge of socialism and communism - Boliva, Paraguay, Equador, Vennezuela, etc.
So, we just may be fighting a losing battle. All we have left is "faith" in humanity. Without faith in humanity, we might as well call to our maker and ask that he/she take us out of this hell hole!
Don't let your neighbors get you down. There are so many other bad things happening in our world that your negative experiences with your neighbor are almost insignificant in a world filled with problems. Keep the faith, *driver, things will work themselves out in your situation. I'm afraid that the other situations I mentioned will never work "themselves" out!
driver - am I missing something or were the trees on your neighbor's property? I wouldn't be happy if my neighbors did that but if they were their trees there's not much I can do. Of course if they were my trees then nothing that full replacement of 30 foot trees would do.....
But is does seemed to escalate to the point of ridiculousness. And what does it matter to you if the fit your profile of "pool people." I will admit to being slightly amused at Canadian pool folks. Must be real optimists - thinking the swimming season is likely to me more tha two months NEXT year!
Well, good day on the medical front yesterday. I actually have two weeks before the next appointment. My brother and I then went down to Asbury Park to the Silverball pinball museum and played for an hour on old 60s machines. Then went guitar looking that could easily get turned into buying given the kinds of toys we were playing with...
Today's another story. Went to put some cleaner in my daughter's gas and fill it with Top Tier gas and notice that it's way overdue for oil. Not driver's distance but then this is a 99 Celica. Well, it turns out it needed some serious brake work as well. They brought me in to look at it - they weren't kidding. It'll run me a grand but I can't buy a car in that shape with new brakes for a grand so it goes. The good part is that I had to get to physical therapy and back home and my daughter needed to get to school. I told her to take my car. So now I had to get me around. Well, the mechanic got me to the physical therapist and then teh physical therapist took me home. I'm landlocked but otherwise OK.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
In the scheme of things, *fezo, that isn't very bad at all! Your daughter has a car, the mechanic has a car, but you don't have a car. 2 out of 3 isn't bad at all!
All kidding aside, glad you are feeling better to go guitar shopping and play on some pinball machines for an hour or so.
My favorite pinball machine of all (when I was younger) was the Elton John "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC" game. I wonder if anyone remembers that pinball machine. It was truly an outstanding pinball machine. I used to get to my post-graduate school classes early in the evenings after school (I was an assistant principal at the time and needed to get some coursework above and beyond my MA Degree classes, which ended up being PhD work) and I would stop off in the commons area with a roll of quarters and play Captain Fantastic Pinball. It was the only thing that relaxed me after a full day at the office with the teachers and the kids.
I remember one evening, I had built up 35 free games and had to leave to get to class - someone that next morning must have thought he/she died and went to heaven with 35 free games built up.
It says in the manual the car has been designed...
*driver, if it was me, I would have paid for an oil change at 10,000 miles - I'll tell you why:
*the less highway driving and the more short hop driving you do breaks the oil down more quickly. Once you reaced 1 year of ownership or 10,000 miles, it's time to change the oil and filter.
*BMW assumes, IMHO, that most people drive 15,000 miles a year. On your case, you don't. I wouldn't trust BMW for anything (you know why) so why would I trust them them to be correct about oil changes. You are correct, as long as you follow the maintenance manual with miles between oil changes, you at OK with the warranty. If you are not going to keep the car once the warranty is over, I guess it doesn't matter very much.
I just like clean, fresh oil in the engine at least once a year with premium full synthetic oils like Mobil 1 or an equivalent brand.
I was at my Mercedes dealer this morning for a carwash and asked my service manager about oil in German engines. He said that the longest he would keep the same oil in the car would be 12 months or 10,000 miles. He said that even the best synthetics begin to break down after 12 months.
As for getting your oil changed down here rather than up there, I hop you are aware that Canadian BMW oil is not the same as American BMW oil! Check it out if you don't believe me. U.S. oil is much better than Canadian oil!!!
You can choose to act however you wish, but IMHO just wave and continue on.
Thanks, I think that is the most sensible solution too. I would love to tell them off, but it won't do any good. The trees we planted will eventually block it off, and you do get more used to it over time.
They are loners anyway, and sometimes that is good, because they don't bother us much. But, sometimes loners push you away even more because they really don't want to be friendly with anyone.
So, we will say a civil hello, and just keep walking. I just hope the pool has a major problem and he asks if he can bring the big Caterpillar back in.
My local Tampa BMW dealer uses $200 as their minimum price for any service
I called Bert Smith BMW in St Petes and they said $117 for an oil change on a 535. We bought the Passat at the same dealership, so it is fairly easy to get to.
There's a great used furniture place across the road called Deja Vu, and even if you don't buy anything you will have hours of fun seeing the odds and ends people get rid of in Florida. It is extremely entertaining to walk through that store, so going for an oil change there is kind of an outing. And, you can check out the Passats or Porsches at Bert Smith Porsche in the same building.
On moving day, they brought out lawn chairs and watched the movers all day
Sounds like those people need to get a life! About 4 houses ago we lived on 100 acres out in the country. I thought that would be ideal, but it has its problems too. *If you want to go anywhere it is a 15 minute drive every day. *You can't go for a walk in the evening - no street lights *As you get older it is harder to get an ambulance to get you to the hospital *The sound of crickets is deafening *The mosquitoes were the size of eagles *On Saturday night you could hear the cars at the race track 10 miles away *You have to plan carefully, you can't just run to the store to get a quart of milk. You have to plan carefully if you want to get frozen food like ice cream home in the winter. *People drop off old tires, empty booze bottles, old sofas etc at the end of your driveway *You can go nuts because if you don't go somewhere you may not see another human being for a few days
Not as ideal as it sounds in theory. Oh yeh, getting ploughed out because the driveway was 1/4 of a mile.
I forgot, oldfarmer must have some of these problems too.
I like the dealership in Florida, a salesman showed us the new BMWs and taught me some things about mine that my dealer didn't show me (you can open the trunk if you have the key in your pocket, and you wave your foot under the rear bumper.....nice if you have packages).
You shouldn’t have needed a salesman for that. I’d say that is why they provide manuals. :confuse:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
There are so many other bad things happening in our world that your negative experiences with your neighbor are almost insignificant
I agree, in the big scheme of things this is minor, but annoying.
Especially when people make a big deal of wanting democracy, and then when they get that, they want to use their new freedoms to suppress freedom of expression. Give me a break!
My favorite pinball machine of all (when I was younger) was the Elton John "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC" game.
I remember one evening, I had built up 35 free games and had to leave to get to class - someone that next morning must have thought he/she died and went to heaven with 35 free games built up.
My favorite game wasn’t actually a pinball game it was a baseball game where you'd push a button and a ball bearing came out from under a metal flap and rolled toward the plate. You had a button that would swing the bat and if you did it right you got a homerun. If your timing was a little off you’d get a single, double, triple, out etc.
I was pretty good at that game and when I delivered papers, when the family still lived in the Burgh, I had a customer that had a bar. He’d let me play the game and by the time I had 15 cents invested sometimes only 10 cents (5 cents per game) I had my swing perfected and I was able to load the bases then hit a homerun. I’d rack up more free games that I could play off before I had to leave to do the rest of the route. The guy used to tell me, “OK kid, I let you in here to have some fun but when you’re ready to leave let me know so I can clear the free games before one of the drunks in here gets to the machine”. He wasn’t bashful about saying it and the customers would say, “you’re a kill-joy and your cheap as hell. Just like this watered down booze you’re serving”.
I’d give him the word when I was done because I knew he wouldn’t let me play anymore if I just walked out liked the customers were encouraging me to do. He’d come from around the bar, pull the plug and go through some kind of a reset thing. All the while his customers were screaming, “CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP
Those were the days; 11 years old and coordinated.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
- am I missing something or were the trees on your neighbor's property?
The trees were just on the neighbors side of the fence. The builder placed them there to make a perfect barrier between the two houses. The neighbors told us the night before they were going to cut down the trees and put in a pool. I told them it is their property and they can do as they wish, but, I am thinking it is very selfish and unthinking to upset your neighbors on both sides so you can put in a swimming fool. They are 2 adults in their 50s, no children, and they have no visitors. He was very excited about the "water feature, which is where water comes out of the rocks at one end.
Temperature was about 74 yesterday and he went in for a 6 minute swim, then sat there with a cigar and brewski for about 2 hours admiring his creation. My friend bet me they will use it a maximum of 412 times next summer, I bet 4. We could have a pool for this too.
Maybe all this talk about oil made you check the Celica.
I basically agree, I don't like the idea of going over 12 months with the same oil. But, I got the car about Nov 20th, and it will have an oil change by mid January, so it isn't over by much. My 2008 didn't get an oil change for almost 2 years....with no problems. I am sure they will have 5W40 oil in Florida.
But, last year we got to Florida and the weather was so nice I forgot to take my snow brush. We heard the weather would be bad on the way back so I went to a Wally Mart to see about a snow brush....they thought I was crazy!
You shouldn’t have needed a salesman for that. I’d say that is why they provide manuals.
Yeh, but who reads the manual?
I look at it to find out some information as I need it. I don't think I have ever actually read a manual, and that's after at least about 20 new cars. I would never remember what I read anyway, if I did read it through.
The trees were just on the neighbor's side of the fence...
*driver, I read all your posts and, most of the time I enjoy them. But this issue with your neighbors has permeated so many of your posts that it appears you are becoming obsessed with this. In your last post, it sounds like you are watching your neighbors all the time.
You know exactly how long each swim is in their pool! You know how many cigars he smokes (and probably the brand if you are watching them through binoculars or a telescope)! You know how he keeps his pool filled (water coming through and over rocks)! If you don't call that being obsessive, what would you call it?
Are you sitting on your patio or at an adjacent window watching their every move? For your own health, both physically and emotionally, you need to sit at a different window or face another direction when on your patio! You have to either put up a 10 foot wall or you must learn to "ignore" what is going on over there.
*jmonroe, I loved those baseball machines as well. But those big machines were just mesmerizing and the reward of a free game (or 35 of them) was what kept us going. Those were during the days when we had no computers or smartphones (texting, surfing, emails, etc.). Just an Atari game controller to play Alien Invasion, Pong, or Pac Man.
I also remember, as a kid, going to Rockaway Beach or Coney Island and playing Skeeball or Poker (with rubber balls going into slots) and winning coupons to cash on on goodies in the arcades.
Yes, but she really thought if he had listened to her and bought a car the week before, that they could have avoided the repo!
Every so often, if I take the time to reminisce about situations and circumstances, I remember a story or two. But there were so many crazy things that went on in the dealerships I worked at, I just don't remember them all. When I do recollect them, I'll post them.
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2018 430i Gran Coupe
Yes, I understand, but I believe the cars must still have final assembly points in Great Brittain. I saw a special on one of the cable channels about Rolls Royce and the intricasies they go through to build these cars. Every Rolls is custom built to order specifications. They do not build "spec" cars. For a dealer to have inventory (which I understand is a rarity because these cars are sold 1 year ahead of production), they must submit an order for the car(s). If you want to order your own car, and wait the year, you can do that. But it makes more sense to buy one from a dealer's inventory.
I was up to Brahman Rolls/Bentley in Palm Beach last month when I was looking at cars, and they have several in inventory you can buy right away. I asked about discount from MSRP and the salesman looked at me and just laughed. He said they usually "add" to the MSRP of the vehicle in most dealerships, but he said their dealership just sells them for MSRP. As for the Bentleys, he said I could negotiate a little. So I guess that says something about Rolls vs. Bentley.
There are over 200 exterior colors you can order and over 250 interior leathers you can order by color and quality and grain. You can also order from an array of wood grains for the interior dash, side panels and rear panels, and you can customize the front and rear seats. It's truly one of the very last automobiles you can literally build from scratch.
Ahhhhhhh, to have a few hundred million and buy a Rolls for your summer home and your winter home, and a 150 foot cruiser to live on in the Mediterranean.
I wonder if the sons and daughters of multi-millionaires and billionaires truly appreciate what they can do with their inherited money? It wouldn't take me long to write up a list of my wants - turn the list over to a broker - and wait for the goodies to start arriving. Must be nice!!!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
I guess you can ride like a king in a Rolls or really be slumming it in a Bentley.
A few more pictures to make you drool, or worse:
There is a nice little article about the Ghost at this website:
MSN review RR Ghost
One bit of information:
Rolls-Royce has received 1,500 firm orders for the Ghost. Deliveries in the United States, where it typically sells 35 to 40 percent of its cars, begin in April 2010. Worldwide sales of the Phantom totaled 1,012 cars last year. The carmaker says that 80 percent of its buyers are new to the brand and that most of them are highly successful entrepreneurs who love cars. And 90 percent of them drive themselves (so much for the "old-money limousine" cliché).
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Pictures look good, but I don't get "excited" over pictures. Now put me in the front driver's seat, I'd have to clean up after myself!
I am not particularly impressed with that shiny aluminum hood. I prefer a solid color. I've seen the car in Maroon/Beige, White/Saddle, Black/Saddle, a SilverTan/Brown, Silver/Black and Navy/Beige. Brahman Motors shows a new Ghost at the mall every month and right next to the Ghost, the always have a Bentley Convertible. This month, the Bentley is White/Saddle and the Rolls is Black/Beige.
A Jaguar dealership usually show an XJ or XJL (long wheelbase). I just have not been able to appreciate that car. Too low and the rear seating area has no headroom. I've driven an S550 recently, but I prefer the 7 Series (750iL) over the S Class. I mentioned that my brother just got an S Class coupe (I think they call it an SC) with the bi-turbo 6.3 liter engine. He told me he got a great deal on it (MSRP is almost $140,000). If I had $140,000 give or take $20,000), I'd borrow the rest and get the Ghost.
Thank goodness I don't have that kind of money to throw away on a car. This E350 is the most I've ever spent on a car (MSRP $64860, paid $57,500). I wouldn't spend any more on a car. If it weren't for the USAA special pricing, I'd be driving a Cadillac CTS or a Buick Lucerne, something around the $40,000 level. I might also have purchased an Audi A6.
But one can "dream"!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
One of my salespeople was working on a deal on one of our mid sized luxury cars. I became involved because they wanted more for their trade than I was giving them. The trade they had was a 1 year old Audi A6, black with black leather seats. It was a 3.0 Quatro which I had appraised at $39,500 because it had been involved in a fender bender. I noticed it had been repainted on the right rear quarter panel and the CAFAX showed it had been hit in the rear. The husband and wife were about 40 or so years old.
So, I explained to them that I could not offer them any more for their trade because of a repaint and previous damage on the right rear quarter panel. Of course they denied it but that's why I always pulled a CARFAX On every car I appraised - just on case of situations like this or if I had overlooked something on the car. I showed them the CARFAX and all of a sudden their memories got better about a minor accident they had 2 weeks after buying the car. They accepted my appraisal and we agreed on a price for the new car.
They told me they did not owe much on their Audi, but when I pulled their credit report, it was flagged for the customers not having made 4 consecutive payments on the car to the bank, and the report showed they owed $41,000+ on the Audi, more than it was worth. At least I now knew why they wanted out of the Audi.
I explained the credit report to them and that with their poor credit report (454 beacon score) I would not be able to sell them a car. The husband explained that their was some foul-up with the credit reporting agency, so I pulled two more credit reports with TransUnion and Eqifax. Both of those reports were just as bad, which I explained to the customers. At just that moment, one of my other salespeople told me there was a tow truck in our front parking lot backing up toward the Audi. We all ran over just in time to see the tow truck extend it's fork lift I see the Audi and towed it right off my lot.
The customers saw this and the wife turned to the husband and said, "...I told you to buy a new car last week and this is what happens when you don't listen to me!"
The calmly walked over to me and asked if I could drive them home because they had no money to take a cab. I accommodated that request but I learned something that evening - a car can be repossessed at any time, from any place, and in less than 30 seconds. I never heard from those people again!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Now, that's what I call an awkward moment! Unbelievable what some people will do....reminds me of my neighbor.
He comes over and says he will plant 12 foot cedars so we won't be able to see him swimming in his stupid pool. So, me being the nice guy I am I let him drive the caterpillar onto my lawn so he can get the rock dug out of his pool.
There is about an inch of dust from the cut rock all over the side of our house and the windows. So, his wife comes over with an envelope and says they are sorry for causing so much dust, and they are giving us a check so we can wash our windows. Meantime, he has put is about 4 5 foot tall cedars that do nothing, and one anemic looking 12 foot cedar that looks like it will die. He promised a row of 6 to 8 cedars and he plants one, and then he wants to buy us off with a check for probably $100. I gave them back the envelope and told them the check doesn't help and I won't accept it.
They were sitting around the pool today, he had a stogy and a can of beer and just sat there like he was living the high life.
I am going to buy a Speedo, and when they are out there relaxing by the pool I am going to crank up the stereo and do some dance moves with my can of beer and go out on my deck and practice doing the moon walk.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Don't they have laws against this in Canada?
I'd rather watch the guy with the stogy drink his beer. :sick:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
2018 430i Gran Coupe
*driver, one thing I learned when I owned two homes in the suburbs in the Chicago area was to never get too friendly with your adjacent neighbors nor make an enemy with any of them! Remember, you can only choose your neighbors at this point in your life by buying a new home in a new area after interviewing every neighbor before your purchase.
Since you won't be choosing your neighbors now, my suggestion is either to ignore them, or you can ignore them, or you can ignore them, or you can ignore them, etc. Are you getting the hint? All you can do now is make things worse, not better, so accept what you have now and grit your teeth and ignore them.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Yep, that was the only amusing part of that situation. They both knew the gig was up and if the husband had done what she told him to do the week before, the only thing that would have changed is that they would still be driving ghat Audi. No one was going to sell them a car, even the week before. They just didn't get it, did they?
As for the ride home, it was either get the salesperson to take them home or listen to them arguing iny showroom for an hour or two until they could get one of their friends or neighbors to pick them up. I made the right decision to get them out of there.
Before that experience, I had never seen a car physically repo'd. It is just amazing how fast they extended those forks under the rear of the car, lifted the rear of the car off the ground, and we're gone in less than 30 seconds. It gives you the heebee jeebees at the thought of a highjacker grabbing your car from a shopping mall parking lot and making off with it! Scary thought, isn't it?
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Speaking of high priced cars that we could afford if we pooled our money together, I had the distinct pleasure (thanks to my in laws, groupon, & GT Dream Cars) of driving a Ferrari F430 around a road course style race track (4 laps) @ raceway park in Englishtown, NJ. All I can say is WOW! The car was absolutely unreal. The fact that I was able to experience it on a track made the drive even more special.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
*nyccarguy, we don't "speak" of high-priced cars, we "drool", which is a big difference. When you drove that Ferrari, did you "speak" or did you "drool"? When I stopped by the mall to see the Ghost, did I "speak" or did I "drool" along with excretions of precious bodily fluids (I'm good at cleaning up language)?
All kidding aside, a couple of the stores in the Aventura Mall in north Miami Beach have some interesting cars in se of their windows. They have a Ferrari store that sells Ferrari shirts, clothes, pens, shoes, etc., and they have a red Ferrari formula 1 race car sitting right in the front. Another store has a classic 1930'ish Bugatti racing car. PRICELESS!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
I think that is good advice. We will continue to add trees until we can no longer see the back of their house and part of their swimming pool.
I couldn't be friendly with these people if I wanted to be, they have broken the trust good neighbors need to have. When they went away on vacations we looked after their plants and brought in their mail......they are on their own now.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
LOL....I have a plan A and B, now I think I am on C or D.
Plan A: I called the dealer and they said they wouldn't change the oil until the car indicated it was time. Cost of an oil change $190. (not too bad really, because most cars would have needed 4 oil changes by now).
Plan B; I emailed BMW of Canada who wrote back, the car will be under warranty still if I get an oil change in the US, but they won't be responsible for the cost. They did say I could take the receipt to the dealer and they may reimburse me....ha, fat chance of that ever happening!
Plan C: I can go about 5000 more miles before I need an oil change. I will put on 2000 miles in Oct and Dec with normal driving. The trip to Florida will add about 1600 miles, so that will make it a total of 3600 miles. On one site they said oil changes were $100 to $120 in the US. I'd rather give my money to BMW USA than the horse thieves in Canada, and the timing would make more sense. If I do it now it will come up at the wrong time of year again next time.
I am beginning to like the Audi maintenance plan better. Oil changes at 6K miles, you can buy their plan or not. If I had a choice I would not have bought the plan for the BMW.
ATTN FEZO: I don't think NOV 14 is a good date to choose for the date my engine seizes up. We will be flying to Florida for Nov, so the engine would have to seize up on it's own in the garage.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
This stuff with neighbors happens all the time.
My quick neighbor story.
My house is the last house before a sunken down cul-de-sac (sp?). My neighbor's house behind me sits about 3-4 feet lower than mine. There is a concrete retaining wall across my entire backyard. You can't see it from my yard, but very noticeable from his (side of his house).
The previous owners had planted a tree in the corner of my yard which as it grew damaged the corner of the wall. He came to me about it. I explained that I hadn't noticed, but what did he want me to do.
He said let's make it easy.......
You take out the tree and clean it all up and I'll have the wall fixed (so then I could also fix my fence which the tree damaged).
Well, you guessed it. Within a week I had the tree down, disposed of and the loose concrete blocks hauled away. This was over a year ago and he has done nothing. He also avoids me like the plague.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
I am losing my faith in humanity. You would think it would be easy to get along with neighbors so every one can enjoy their property to the max.
Your neighbor was ignorant, but the worst one I know of lived next to my S-I-L.
His house was in a new sub-division. For the safety of the kids all the neighbors got together and got the price of fencing...got a good rate if they all did it and it would be all the same.
"The neighbor from hell" decided if he didn't pay for the fence he would end up with one anyway. So, he said, if you guys want fences go ahead...and of course he got a free fence.
Then, when my S-I-L put his house up for sale, the neighbor put up a For Sale by Owner sign on his front lawn. When people came with a realtor to see my S-I-Ls house, the neighbor would invite people into his house. He offered his for less, and his house sold first.
They are everywhere!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
The dealership in Florida is $117 plus probably 5 or 6% sales tax (help me here Mike).
But, the main thing is the timing works out so well, and it is the dealer that we also bought the Passat from. And, to top it off, these weasels in Canada lose out on making a few bucks ha ha.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I'm afraid I can't, *driver. Sales tax is set by the county. Miami-Dade is 7%, Palm Beach is 6.5%, and Broward is 6%. I believe the State sales tax is 5% + whatever the county tacks on.
I buy my cars in Palm Beach County, but because I live in Broward (depends on where the car is registered), I only pay 6% of the difference between the trade and net new vehicle cost.
An oil/filter change should not be more than $100 at a dealer. Since I buy lots of cars from my MB dealer, I pay fleet price, or $89.00, instead of $129.95.
I would still change the oil on you BMW and not wait for the 15,000 miles!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
But, what the heck. If it lets go, your back yard ends up in his house, not yours!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I stopped at the bank last night which happens to be right next to (shares a parking lot) a nice local steak house. That valet parks. And right in front next to the exit, they had matching black bentleys parked. A coupe and Convertible (Both GTCs). made the new 7 series BMW next to them look plebeian.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
You may be right. It's not an easy fix. After the wedding I am thinking about working something out with him. Since it's such an old neighborhood no one has any recall of whose wall it really is. It really does split the property line down the middle of it.
Frankly, I've thought of doing a "redneck" repair to it (amazing what 2 pressure treated 2 x 12s and some Tapcon screws can do), backfilling and fixing the section of chain link fence.
Wouldn't see it from my house!
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
It says in the manual the car has been designed with the latest technology so it can go 15k miles. Actually, the monitor is saying I won't need an oil change until I reach 18000 miles. If I get it in Florida it will be at the 15k mile mark.
The warranty will be good, and the chances of me keeping the car once the 4 year warranty is up are not great. Usually, I am on the safe side with most things, but for this I am not concerned. If I knew this was going to happen I would have done my oil change at 10K miles, but, since I'd rather have it done in Florida anyway, it works out fine for me. I like the dealership in Florida, a salesman showed us the new BMWs and taught me some things about mine that my dealer didn't show me (you can open the trunk if you have the key in your pocket, and you wave your foot under the rear bumper.....nice if you have packages).
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Thus far hydrogen has not made any real inroads as an alternative fuel. The issues are cost, infrastructure and the fact that most of the hydrogen produced comes from natural gas or coal.
That was my idea too. My wife has put in about $5000 worth of trees to block the view of his pool and the back of their house. It works about 80%, but not as good as the 30 foot trees this moron cut down.
My idea was...there is a 5 foot metal chain link fence there now. On my side I would put a 12 foot high wooden fence. On his side, I would paint some designs on it in bright red, yellow and orange. See how he likes staring at that!
ATTN MIKE: I think you are right when you say to ignore them, if you get into arguements they only escalate. I learned that from my wife, the family therapist. However, what do you do if they are walking their dog toward us and we are going the other way? We used to stop and talk, but, I don't have much I want to say to him. Do I ignore them completely or do I say "Hi"?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
By not accepting their check to clean your siding you basically sent your message. I know if someone did that to me I would have been highly offended. In all fairness I would have hired someone to clean it (or make the person responsible for it, clean it).
I wouldn't do anything to escalate the situation. The damage is done, you have done everything you can to fix the issue on your end. I think in time this will bother you less.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Just returned from picking up two day's of Pure Michigan. I actually checked Chick-Fil-A's site for locations along I-75 Ohio up to Canton-Plymouth area (west edge of Wayne County). One in Toledo a mile off I-75 and only 1 in Michigan, appears to be on campus at Oakland College. So no happiness there in case we needed sustinance on the way home Monday.
The draw for me is good. Strips have some oil content, carrot raisen salad is good for my eyes, so I avoid the dips for the strips because they add to the fat content. But it's one place to go in, get a free senior drink with refills, eat, and leave sated.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
You can always do as a fellow employee told me, years ago, how they do it when you have a farm in a rural area. He said we don’t have the disputes that you development dwellers have. We talk out our differences (usually barb wire fence, water and pond things) and everything is taken care of because if it ain’t the SOB will be shot and they know damn well the body will never be found.
Let me emphasize, I’m not condoning this but it does allow for quick resolution. It also explains why you don’t hear of missing farmers. The term today is “gone missing” but you get the point.
Maybe our resident farmer can add a little more about this.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
2018 430i Gran Coupe
A few days later the village manager showed up at our door claiming that our neighbor said that our fence was over on his property. I showed the manager the survey papers and the blue print for the installed fence. Our fence was even four feet inside of our property line. The manager said not to worry because they had had problems with this guy before. About a week after that, I noticed that 3 or 4 of the fence rails had fallen down. I called the fence company to come out and repair them. I was a bit ticked off because I had spent $5K on this nice fence. The company's owner called to my attention that the rails had been SAWED OFF! Guess who came to mind? I called the neighbor to ask if he knew who might have done it. Naturally, he didn't have a clue. I did say that the next time that a rail was sawed off, I was going to get the police department to investigate. Result: No more missing rails.
Another problem with these neighbors was that they would walk over any time that a service person came to our house. They would talk with the lawn guy, the cable guy, the electrician, the plumber, etc. They would ask the service guys what they were doing and why. If I walked outside, the neighbors would walk away quickly. About a year later, we ran into the former owners of our house who were visiting in the village. I asked them about our neighbors. They said that those people were one of the reasons that they put the house on the market. They had encountered similar problems. I must say that while we miss our other neighbors, we certainly don't miss the ones next door. On moving day, they brought out lawn chairs and watched the movers all day. I told my wife that if they dared walk over and tried to talk to the movers, I was going to blow their doors off big time. :mad:
Richard
Not to be a jerk but what good would a split rail fence if the goal was to keep a dog in the yard?
I doubt that very much, *driver. Losing your faith in neighbors who do not respect you and your property, I can see you losing faith in that. But, faith in humanity is really all we have left, *driver - am I right?
With all that is happening in our countries (US and Canada) with the financial crisis, and what is happening in the Islamic countries, it is easy to lose faith in humanity. But we must persevere! Unfortunately, what most of the world sees as being fair and equitable is not necessarily so.
Russia, China, Southeast Asia, the MIddle East, North Africa, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, etc., see things from a different perspective. The Islamic revolutionaries see us as infidels and should be destroyed. Russia nd China see us as trading adversaries and must be beaten down. Some of the European countries are so socialistic, all they want to do is take from those who have and give it all to those who don't. South America is filled with countries on the verge of socialism and communism - Boliva, Paraguay, Equador, Vennezuela, etc.
So, we just may be fighting a losing battle. All we have left is "faith" in humanity. Without faith in humanity, we might as well call to our maker and ask that he/she take us out of this hell hole!
Don't let your neighbors get you down. There are so many other bad things happening in our world that your negative experiences with your neighbor are almost insignificant in a world filled with problems. Keep the faith, *driver, things will work themselves out in your situation. I'm afraid that the other situations I mentioned will never work "themselves" out!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
driver - am I missing something or were the trees on your neighbor's property? I wouldn't be happy if my neighbors did that but if they were their trees there's not much I can do. Of course if they were my trees then nothing that full replacement of 30 foot trees would do.....
But is does seemed to escalate to the point of ridiculousness. And what does it matter to you if the fit your profile of "pool people." I will admit to being slightly amused at Canadian pool folks. Must be real optimists - thinking the swimming season is likely to me more tha two months NEXT year!
Well, good day on the medical front yesterday. I actually have two weeks before the next appointment. My brother and I then went down to Asbury Park to the Silverball pinball museum and played for an hour on old 60s machines. Then went guitar looking that could easily get turned into buying given the kinds of toys we were playing with...
Today's another story. Went to put some cleaner in my daughter's gas and fill it with Top Tier gas and notice that it's way overdue for oil. Not driver's distance but then this is a 99 Celica. Well, it turns out it needed some serious brake work as well. They brought me in to look at it - they weren't kidding. It'll run me a grand but I can't buy a car in that shape with new brakes for a grand so it goes. The good part is that I had to get to physical therapy and back home and my daughter needed to get to school. I told her to take my car. So now I had to get me around. Well, the mechanic got me to the physical therapist and then teh physical therapist took me home. I'm landlocked but otherwise OK.
In the scheme of things, *fezo, that isn't very bad at all! Your daughter has a car, the mechanic has a car, but you don't have a car. 2 out of 3 isn't bad at all!
All kidding aside, glad you are feeling better to go guitar shopping and play on some pinball machines for an hour or so.
My favorite pinball machine of all (when I was younger) was the Elton John "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC" game. I wonder if anyone remembers that pinball machine. It was truly an outstanding pinball machine. I used to get to my post-graduate school classes early in the evenings after school (I was an assistant principal at the time and needed to get some coursework above and beyond my MA Degree classes, which ended up being PhD work) and I would stop off in the commons area with a roll of quarters and play Captain Fantastic Pinball. It was the only thing that relaxed me after a full day at the office with the teachers and the kids.
I remember one evening, I had built up 35 free games and had to leave to get to class - someone that next morning must have thought he/she died and went to heaven with 35 free games built up.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
I remember that machine! It was great. They have one is perfect shape there.
*driver, if it was me, I would have paid for an oil change at 10,000 miles - I'll tell you why:
*the less highway driving and the more short hop driving you do breaks the oil down more quickly. Once you reaced 1 year of ownership or 10,000 miles, it's time to change the oil and filter.
*BMW assumes, IMHO, that most people drive 15,000 miles a year. On your case, you don't. I wouldn't trust BMW for anything (you know why) so why would I trust them them to be correct about oil changes. You are correct, as long as you follow the maintenance manual with miles between oil changes, you at OK with the warranty. If you are not going to keep the car once the warranty is over, I guess it doesn't matter very much.
I just like clean, fresh oil in the engine at least once a year with premium full synthetic oils like Mobil 1 or an equivalent brand.
I was at my Mercedes dealer this morning for a carwash and asked my service manager about oil in German engines. He said that the longest he would keep the same oil in the car would be 12 months or 10,000 miles. He said that even the best synthetics begin to break down after 12 months.
As for getting your oil changed down here rather than up there, I hop you are aware that Canadian BMW oil is not the same as American BMW oil! Check it out if you don't believe me. U.S. oil is much better than Canadian oil!!!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Thanks, I think that is the most sensible solution too.
I would love to tell them off, but it won't do any good. The trees we planted will eventually block it off, and you do get more used to it over time.
They are loners anyway, and sometimes that is good, because they don't bother us much. But, sometimes loners push you away even more because they really don't want to be friendly with anyone.
So, we will say a civil hello, and just keep walking. I just hope the pool has a major problem and he asks if he can bring the big Caterpillar back in.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I called Bert Smith BMW in St Petes and they said $117 for an oil change on a 535. We bought the Passat at the same dealership, so it is fairly easy to get to.
There's a great used furniture place across the road called Deja Vu, and even if you don't buy anything you will have hours of fun seeing the odds and ends people get rid of in Florida. It is extremely entertaining to walk through that store, so going for an oil change there is kind of an outing. And, you can check out the Passats or Porsches at Bert Smith Porsche in the same building.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Sounds like those people need to get a life! About 4 houses ago we lived on 100 acres out in the country. I thought that would be ideal, but it has its problems too.
*If you want to go anywhere it is a 15 minute drive every day.
*You can't go for a walk in the evening - no street lights
*As you get older it is harder to get an ambulance to get you to the hospital
*The sound of crickets is deafening
*The mosquitoes were the size of eagles
*On Saturday night you could hear the cars at the race track 10 miles away
*You have to plan carefully, you can't just run to the store to get a quart of milk. You have to plan carefully if you want to get frozen food like ice cream home in the winter.
*People drop off old tires, empty booze bottles, old sofas etc at the end of your driveway
*You can go nuts because if you don't go somewhere you may not see another human being for a few days
Not as ideal as it sounds in theory. Oh yeh, getting ploughed out because the driveway was 1/4 of a mile.
I forgot, oldfarmer must have some of these problems too.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Yeh, and why does the dog care what kind of fence it is?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
You shouldn’t have needed a salesman for that. I’d say that is why they provide manuals. :confuse:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I agree, in the big scheme of things this is minor, but annoying.
Especially when people make a big deal of wanting democracy, and then when they get that, they want to use their new freedoms to suppress freedom of expression. Give me a break!
Oh well, this too, shall pass.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I remember one evening, I had built up 35 free games and had to leave to get to class - someone that next morning must have thought he/she died and went to heaven with 35 free games built up.
My favorite game wasn’t actually a pinball game it was a baseball game where you'd push a button and a ball bearing came out from under a metal flap and rolled toward the plate. You had a button that would swing the bat and if you did it right you got a homerun. If your timing was a little off you’d get a single, double, triple, out etc.
I was pretty good at that game and when I delivered papers, when the family still lived in the Burgh, I had a customer that had a bar. He’d let me play the game and by the time I had 15 cents invested sometimes only 10 cents (5 cents per game) I had my swing perfected and I was able to load the bases then hit a homerun. I’d rack up more free games that I could play off before I had to leave to do the rest of the route. The guy used to tell me, “OK kid, I let you in here to have some fun but when you’re ready to leave let me know so I can clear the free games before one of the drunks in here gets to the machine”. He wasn’t bashful about saying it and the customers would say, “you’re a kill-joy and your cheap as hell. Just like this watered down booze you’re serving”.
I’d give him the word when I was done because I knew he wouldn’t let me play anymore if I just walked out liked the customers were encouraging me to do. He’d come from around the bar, pull the plug and go through some kind of a reset thing. All the while his customers were screaming, “CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP
Those were the days; 11 years old and coordinated.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
The trees were just on the neighbors side of the fence. The builder placed them there to make a perfect barrier between the two houses. The neighbors told us the night before they were going to cut down the trees and put in a pool. I told them it is their property and they can do as they wish, but, I am thinking it is very selfish and unthinking to upset your neighbors on both sides so you can put in a swimming fool. They are 2 adults in their 50s, no children, and they have no visitors. He was very excited about the "water feature, which is where water comes out of the rocks at one end.
Temperature was about 74 yesterday and he went in for a 6 minute swim, then sat there with a cigar and brewski for about 2 hours admiring his creation. My friend bet me they will use it a maximum of 412 times next summer, I bet 4. We could have a pool for this too.
Maybe all this talk about oil made you check the Celica.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I'd like to see some proof of that. I am guessing bmw oil is made to BMWs specifications and a can of bmw oil is the same all over the world.
This article explains how oil for MB, Audi and BMW is formulated differently to European standards rather than American standards.
European vs North American oil
I basically agree, I don't like the idea of going over 12 months with the same oil. But, I got the car about Nov 20th, and it will have an oil change by mid January, so it isn't over by much. My 2008 didn't get an oil change for almost 2 years....with no problems. I am sure they will have 5W40 oil in Florida.
But, last year we got to Florida and the weather was so nice I forgot to take my snow brush. We heard the weather would be bad on the way back so I went to a Wally Mart to see about a snow brush....they thought I was crazy!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Yeh, but who reads the manual?
I look at it to find out some information as I need it. I don't think I have ever actually read a manual, and that's after at least about 20 new cars. I would never remember what I read anyway, if I did read it through.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
*driver, I read all your posts and, most of the time I enjoy them. But this issue with your neighbors has permeated so many of your posts that it appears you are becoming obsessed with this. In your last post, it sounds like you are watching your neighbors all the time.
You know exactly how long each swim is in their pool! You know how many cigars he smokes (and probably the brand if you are watching them through binoculars or a telescope)! You know how he keeps his pool filled (water coming through and over rocks)! If you don't call that being obsessive, what would you call it?
Are you sitting on your patio or at an adjacent window watching their every move? For your own health, both physically and emotionally, you need to sit at a different window or face another direction when on your patio! You have to either put up a 10 foot wall or you must learn to "ignore" what is going on over there.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
*jmonroe, I loved those baseball machines as well. But those big machines were just mesmerizing and the reward of a free game (or 35 of them) was what kept us going. Those were during the days when we had no computers or smartphones (texting, surfing, emails, etc.). Just an Atari game controller to play Alien Invasion, Pong, or Pac Man.
I also remember, as a kid, going to Rockaway Beach or Coney Island and playing Skeeball or Poker (with rubber balls going into slots) and winning coupons to cash on on goodies in the arcades.
Good grief, I'm OLD!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Ha ha that was priceless! I'm sure that couple blamed all their financial troubles on someone else. So typical today.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Yes, but she really thought if he had listened to her and bought a car the week before, that they could have avoided the repo!
Every so often, if I take the time to reminisce about situations and circumstances, I remember a story or two. But there were so many crazy things that went on in the dealerships I worked at, I just don't remember them all. When I do recollect them, I'll post them.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger