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I don't know about that CR ranking. They said today that the Tesla was the top car and the Ram 1500 was the top truck. I'm not sure that I agree with that. Last week CR voted the BMW as one of the 15 used cars NOT to purchase. I also find that one hard to believe. I just wonder if CR gets some kickbacks for their rankings.
Richard
There is something in what you say about children and the time of day that they perform best. Some studies have been done over the years which reveal exactly what you say. It has been recommended that high school age children begin their school day at around 9 or 10 AM. Based on my teaching experience, I always found that my 8 AM high school classes were more difficult to challenge and keep alert. Many of them had night jobs or evening activities which made them so sleepy the next morning.
Richard
Time for me to weigh in on our coffee discussion. I never liked coffee at all, just the smell of coffee & coffee flavored things, until my daughter (our 3rd child) was born a little over 2 years ago. I started drinking it in the morning on my way to work and realized that I really was much more alert & "ready to go" right when I opened the door at 7:30 AM.
We had a K-Cup Brewer because for years, my wife was the only coffee drinker in the house. When I started drinking coffee, I bought beans, set our coffee maker to start brewing at 6:00 AM so I could pour a fresh cup right before I walked out the door at 6:15 - 6:20. A few times I had problems with the coffee maker. It would clog up and start oozing muddy coffee water out of the bottom which is not fun when you leave for work as early as I do. Also, my wife thought the coffee tasted "we'll done" by the time she would pour her cup hours after I left. So we stuck with the K-Cup Brewer.
I agree with @robr2 that it doesn't get as hot as I'd like. We got a newer one with adjustable temperature settings (192 degrees) the past December & it is quieter and hotter than the 1st brewer we had. The commercial K-Cup brewers get hotter and give you more coffee.
For the ride home, I usually stop at Dunkin' Donuts.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Then they should have gotten a Keurig brewer so that they could have been alert.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I just want to let everyone know, I have the best kind of car to own. It runs and it's paid for (just sent the last payment in).
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I understand how upset you must be. I know that it's tough but try to get beyond it. This isn't good for you physically or emotionally. On top of that, you have to take care of your father. Life has some pretty intense moments but somehow we manage to get through it. I heard an old friend say that he had no regrets in life. I asked him how that was possible. He said that it didn't do any good to have regrets when you've done the best that you could all of your life. It makes good sense when you think about it. Take care and try to find some happiness each day. We're all here for you.
Richard
@snakeweasel
Congrats! After May, I'll have only 2 more years until the Pilot is paid off.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I totally agree with your assessment of "entitlement" people. I no longer intend to fund those kind of people even if they are family.
Richard
LOL!
_ Boy was I wrong!!!_
As I've gotten older I've learned not to dwell or beat myself up on mistakes or coulda been's. A full life means good moves and mistakes, winners and losers. No one bats 1.000 in baseball and no quarterback completes 100% or never gets intercepted. I think you actually learn from mistakes and become better from them. Don't let guilt or sorrow induced negativity bring you down - it's a deceptively destructive thing. He's your son, you stood by him and did what you're heart told you to do. That's what father's and mother's do even when they get burned once in awhile. The outcome may have been sour this time, but the support and effort was the right thing to do. Someday he'll probably better understand that too. Life's too short.
It's a wonderful feeling isn't it? Congratulations.
Richard
My Fusion has Sync and MyFordTouch (I don't know which is which or where one starts and the other ends). So far it hasn't been bad learning how everything works, but I'm not quite done with it.
One strange thing is that the Fusion will not read text messages. It says my phone is not able to do that. It's strange because the Escape I just traded did it all the time. It's not the phone - it's MyFordTouch (or Sync)
It's sorry that people downgrade a vehicle because of how some dashboard gizmo works. I'm not a Ford fan, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. I remember when a passenger asked what was going on with the touch screen in the Escape. I just pointed to the word "Microsoft". He got it. Heh.
2025 Forester Limited, 2024 Subaru Legacy Sport
I don't know if you should say that in front of an employer!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
lol snake....officials should introduce coffee into the school...get those kids to wake up on the morning.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Good point berri. I never liked failure, so I didn't do a lot of things I could fail at. Then, when I started my business, I learned to love failure.....you learn more from your failures than your successes. Failing is a good thing.....it teaches you the road to take for success.
One thing I have learned when someone lets me down....like Mike's son, JM's son, or my son-in-law. We got burned, but we may have got burned a lot worse if we didn't find out how irresponsible these people are. I saw a pattern with my s-i-l and so I leaned on him (had to use a lawyer unfortunately) and got back 90% of what I was owed. Before I trusted him, so I could have given him a lot more money if he came to me to start a business or something. Now, I would never get involved with anything with him. Sometimes, the valuable lesson is that you really learned what these people are like, and you can guide yourself accordingly.
Mike will be out because he won't get the same savings for a new car, hopefully he won't have to sell the C-Class if his son sdoesn't keep up payments, but, if his son comes to him and wants him to co-sign for $300k to start a business....he will know how to answer him.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
GM recalling 1.6 million cars!
General Motors Co. (GM:US), saying it was “deeply sorry,” more than doubled the scope of a vehicle recall to fix defective ignition switches now linked to 13 deaths from airbags failing to deploy.
The recalls, limited initially to 778,562 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 cars, were widened to include 2003-2007 Saturn Ions, 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHRs, 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice and the 2006-2007 Saturn Sky, the Detroit-based company said in a statement today. About 1.62 million cars are now included.
U.S. auto-safety regulators were told in 2007 of a possible link between defective ignition switches and airbags not deploying,
Just seems to me, more could have been done earlier. It does affect my buying choices to some degree. If I was choosing between a GM car and another model, this type of thing could make me decide to go with the other car.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I've been known to stop there also, actually to much as I drink to much coffee in general.
Also brings to mind one of the things I could complain about. One of the pleasures of drinking coffee is the smell when to pick it up to take a sip. More then a couple times as I was in this process I was greated by something nasty (copared to coofee smell), hand cream that gets transfered to lid. Not that is doesn't smell pretty, just wrong thing at wrong time
But would a procrastinator ever have gotten around to sending the last payment?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
My son has observed that about 1/3 of the kids coming into his school are carrying Dunkin's cup. If the school store could get a franchise.....
In reality those kids need more hours of sleep. Changing school hours would just time shift everything. My son said that if school shifted to a 9 AM start, he wouldn't get home from track until 7:30 and start homework around 9. That would put lights out at 2 AM leaving him with the same 5.5 hours of sleep.
Hot on the heels of the CR rankings (which I don't put much stock in, btw), I went to have my Car Show coupon validated at the local Caddy dealer to get my $50 VISA gift card last night on my way back from gettng gas at Costco.
Surprisngly for a Tuesday, they were busy. Going to stop here just for a moment and sidetrack. I don't go to Caddy dealers, and haven't been to one in a while. Mostly, I've been to Audi, BMW, Acura, dealers (and the occasional Honda store). Nothing but good sales experineces.
I understand that selling cars is difficult, and that it takes a very focused individual with thick skin to do so successfully. But, I at least expect some amount of professionalism.
When I walk into the Caddy showroom, the desks of the sales people (which are all open and clustered together in the middle of the showroom) are all occupied with customers, except for one. There was also the glass enclosed Sales manager's desk, which for argument's sake, let's assume he's really busy reviewing and closing "deals".
The sales guy at the empty desk is probalby in his late 50s- early 60s. He is dressed for the part of used car sales person that is unfairly stereotypical, but true nonetheless in this case. Purple shirt with a matching purple tie with knit pants that I thought went out of style with leisure suits. About 3 weeks past where a hair cut is due. A floppy moustache that seems to curl at the edges into his mouth. I try to never judge a person by their dress or looks. Sometimes successfully...this time not so much.
He was a nice enough fellow as he greeted me. I told him I was there to get my car show visa gift card validated. I also told him I wasn't in the market for a car, so I would just save him some time if he could validate it for me. He seemed (or acted) totally confused by my request. He said he'd been selling Cadillacs for 19 years and had never heard of such a thing. He went so far as to go "in the back" to get confirmation that Cadillac was offering this "spiff" to consumers.
He returns a couple of minutes later to present my coupon to the sales manager in the glass office, and declares, plenty loud enough so I could hear ...."have you ever heard of this? I haven't. This is crazy." And with some sort of fake gestures of hands up in the air, he puts his glasses on and starts to read the coupon, aloud to the manager who was 2 feet away (and loud enough so I can hear it 20 feet away). Must admit, I was mildly amused by the theatrics. The manager says nothing. He looks at the sales person, then looks at me, and goes on about whatever it was he was doing without a response.
"Oh....I see what they're doing. A test drive is what they're giving the $50 for."
He comes out from the manager's office and states....."you have to take a test drive before we can validate this."
Homage to Mack....to be continued......
graphicguy,
Make sure you test drive the fastest caddy... enjoy its power and makes sure it holds turns good. maybe take salesman with you on a few erands for the day.
23 Telluride SX-P X-Line, 23 Camry XSE
VARIOUS AND SUNDRY DISCUSSION TOPICS - AND THANKS EVERYONE!
SONS
I've needed some time to cool off and digest what has happened in the past several years - my loss of my 401K and what has occurred over the past few days (and years) regarding my son.
He went through a terrible divorce a few years ago - and his lack of happiness in his marriage and at home caused him to abuse drugs and alcohol. This was after I had loaned him the money he needed to start his own business (which he did, but let it self-destruct because of his addictions and dissatisfaction with his family life, which I knew nothing about). We didn't speak for several years during this time because he refused to face me (or talk to me) about his condition in life.
When my grandson came to Florida last summer when we went to Universal Studios, I learned a lot about what was going on. It was obvious to me that the divorce and his father's condition has serious negative affects on his behavior and demeanor (who could expect anything different?). I think I posted that he is a little sh.....t, never once thanked me for anything, and had a short fuse. My son has since tried to work with him on this, but to no avail. Then there is the other son who suffers from Asberger's Syndrome and is also AD/HD and autistic. Quite a bit for my son to handle. I am sure all of this had some impetus for his divorce as well.
As we began to re-establish communications, he asked for some money to allow him to pay off some serious debts which caused his bankruptcy. I "gave" him the money he needed (not a loan) so he could concentrate on his AA program and his drug dependency program. In the past few months, he has started to earn a nice living and has enough money now to fend for himself and his children.
He called me a few weeks ago and said he wanted to lease a Mercedes E250 Diesel and wondered if I had any influence in helping him get a deal on it he could afford. I asked if he could handle a $600 monthly payment, and he said he had more than enough to cover his mortgage and a new car. So I took him at his word (I did not want to upset the relationship we had re-established by prying too deeply into his personal life). I made my contacts, as I posted, flew out there (you all know how difficult it is for me to make that kind of trip and to make arrangements for someone to watch my Dad), got him the deal of a lifetime on the lease, and then flew home after seeing the grandsons. Then the issue with his neighbor wanting the same car for the same price, etc., etc., etc.
It has taken me this long to get myself together so I could respond to all of you who have tried to be so helpful and understanding. I thank you all for that!!!
As I look back on the past few years, yes - I made many mistakes - but one mistake I never made was to abandon my son. Everything else has been a fiasco, as you all know. I had a long conversation with him on Sunday evening and I think he understands where he made his mistake. Before divulging what he paid for his lease, knowing his neighbor wanted one also, he should have called me first and asked if I could get his neighbor the same deal. My answer would have been an emphatic "NO"! I again explained to him that this deal was a special favor to me, personally, and that it could not be repeated for his neighbor. He agreed that he should not have told his neighbor that his Dad could get him the same deal. ENOUGH ABOUT THIS MESS, life goes on!
COFFEE
I have been reading all the opinions shared on the forum about coffee and I believe I shared with everyone that the only Starbucks Coffee I can tolerate is their latte's. Their coffee is much too strong for me to drink with just sweetener and cream. But their coffee is probably one of the highest quality coffees on the market right now - it had better be for what they charge for it.
My favorite coffee is Dunkin Donuts Coffee. That nutty flavor is unbeatable for the price.
I picked up the K coffee maker (big son of a gun machine). I tried it out a few times, and the coffee isn't bad, but it isn't good enough for my preference over Dunkin Donut Coffee. So I gave the machine to a neighbor (who is ecstatic over it) since all it would do would sit on the counter taking up space I prefer my Mr. Coffee drip as it is much hotter for some reason.
For those who have posted that they don't like coffee, but they love the aroma as well as items such as ice cream with coffee flavoring, I agree. The aroma of the coffee is what gets to me. I only drink one cup of coffee a day - in the early morning. I don't like coffee that much to drink any more than that. But every time I pass by a Starbuck's, the aroma of the freshly ground coffee is definitely a turn on.
Thanks all for allowing me to get some things off my chest. I don't have anyone else to vent to - but I do appreciate your concerns.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
@graphicguy
The Cadillac dealer seems stuck in 1984. Am curious to see how this plays out.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Brian....great idea....that would be fun..LOL!
So, what I thought was going to be a quick 5 minute stop, is turning into an "ordeal". I repeat what I originally said to the sales person, "All I need is for you to validate this coupon. I'm not in the market.".
Now, I've always thought that the best trait a sales person could possess is their ability to listen. Clearly, listening wasn't this guy's strong suit.
He proceeds to ask me to sit at his desk so he can get my pertinent information....name, address, etc, which is what they need for me to get the gift card. So, I give it to him...standing, not sitting, as if I'm in a hurry. All of a sudden, he seems to know exactly what he has to do to validate the coupon, as he is now on some sort of validation page the dealership has for the promo.
He finishes whatever he's completing for validation, and asks me what color I'd like to drive. He also asks me for my keys so they can evaluate my trade. He's really not getting this whole listening thing. I'm not used to this sort of....umm....behavior from a high(er) end car dealership. This is "old school". I'm waiting for the 4 square to be presented at any moment.
I tell him maybe it's a bad time for me to get my gift card validation and that I'll stop by another time.
He goes into "hard sell" mode, explaining how he can get me out of my current car and into their "new car" for probably the same payment. I explain I don't have a payment. Not skipping a beat, he explains that there are "rebates galore".
I have two choices here. I can just thank him and leave (without the Visa gift card validation). Or, I can comply and drive his car. I decide for fun on the latter.
He gets the requisite "dealer tag", pulls a car around the front (he doesn't even know what I want). He chooses a loaded up ATS for me. He again asks me for the keys to my Acura. "Nope, not in the market". He's undeterred and begins to lead me out to the ATS. He gets a call on nis cell phone right as we're about the "test drive". After about 2 minutes, from what I can tell, it sounds like he has a deal that's getting ready to go south (finance?).
He already has the car running and the seat heaters on. I start to head back to my car which is parked a couple of slots down from his ATS. He covers the phone, and whispers..."go ahead and drive it without me."
OK, then!
I'll cut to the chase. The ATS I drove was the 2.0 turbo. I drove it on a brief backroad, on the highway for a few miles, and back to the dealership...maybe 20 minutes in total. It does indeed handle very well. The suspension tuning is pretty amazing and totally unexpected for a Caddy, or any GM car for that matter. It was very, very solid. It's quick (not fast). It's comfortable. It doesn't have the sports seats that my TL has (which I consider the best in the business).
The auto 6-speed may be short a gear, but it is every bit as good as the one in my Acura (which is good).
While overall, the materials and finish were quite good, somebody needs to grab the GM designers and tell them that their "fake stiching" they put on the dash doesn't fool anyone.
The car is very tossable, even over pot holes (which didn't upset it, at all).
Suspension, drivetrain, materials, fit and finish....all of it can compete with anything I've driven. And, at $47K (sticker), figuring about a $5K disc (maybe more if I do my usual "one offer" thing), it's probably a good deal. A BMW or Audi that offers something equivalent will be knocking on the $50K door.
Where the car falls down, and I mean where it does a pavement face dive, is its CUE system. I'm pretty techie. And, one of the things I've really come to appreciate with the Acuras I've owned, they release cars where everything works the way it's supposed to. Not going to even bring up the problems with the Audi. The Caddy CUE trumps the Audi's problems, and that was just on a test drive.
Trying to do something as simple as turning the stereo on and off was a hit or miss affair. Changing the volume was as difficult as they could possibly make it. It has these buttons that are supposed to give you haptic feedback when you press them. Well, that may sound good in theory. When you're driving, with vibration of the car, you don't feel that feedback. As such, I turned the radio off and on 5-6 times when I only wanted to do it once, since I had no feedback (At least none that I could discern) tellimg me what I was doing. The volume I kept turning up all the way, or muting. Everything took 4-5 attempts to get it to do what I wanted. Same with the climate control.
I could see myself taking a hammer to the entire thing if I had to use it every day.
On the positive side, the graphics on the display (both the NAV and the speedo/RPM gages) were very good. Not even looking in the manual for voice commands, I was able to control the car using my voice (maybe that was their intent).
Would I trade my Acural TL SH AWD for it? Not even remotely. My car is more refined, quicker, handles as well, is more comfortable, has more room, and everything works.
But, for what I'll assume is a $42K selling price of the ATS, it will probably snag those folks who are looking at a $40K+ Buick, or Avalon, or maybe a 320i...maybe even a $45K A4.
I return to the dealership. My sales guy is at his desk with who I will assume is the lady whose deal seems to be falling apart. He looks at me. Begins to get up. I tell him to stay seated. I put the keys on his desk, thank him for his time, and leave (he's too busy to follow).
Long and short of it, interesting visit. I never did get my $50 VISA gift card validated. I'm debating whether it's actuallly worth my time to go back and do so.
graphguy,
Well wriiten. I agree time is money. Go there on the next snow storm you might be in a out...............LOL
23 Telluride SX-P X-Line, 23 Camry XSE
It’s a great feeling when the last payment is made. I remember those days. Although I hadn’t financed a car for quite a while, when Mrs. j got her ’12 Subie in November of 2011 the finance rate of 1.9% was too good to pass up. So we did a 36 month thingy for around half the amount. That means it will be all ours in January 2015. When I realized this about 2 months ago I said to her, “then it will be my turn to get a new car, right”?
I got one of those looks and I knew I better drop the subject. Since she is the one that writes the checks in our house I guess I’ll do what I did when I got the ’09 Genny…just paid for it right then and there. I’ve said this before, there was no way I was going to give her monthly reminders that I got a car that she didn’t think we needed. Worked before, so I know it will work again.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I'm actually not so dumb that I don't know what MyTouch is all about but I have ABSOLUTELY no interest in Nav systems, phones or any other electronic distractions. I want to drive my car not surf the net. I really worry that at some point I won't be able to buy a new car without paying thousands extra for electronic junk. It angers me that this stuff may be forced on me.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Many of the high school kids getting on my bus carry coffee cups which may explain my full bus. Another explanation might be what happened last week.
I was asked to immediately pull over and search the bus for bottles. I did so and found an empty water bottle. Security came to my bus and took the bottle away but not before I took a sniff---Vodka.
This week about 10 students were missing. Now I know what they needed the coffee for.......hangovers.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Some high schools in greater Boston have banned any coffee containers, water bottles, et al in school due to some students have vodka tonics or Irish coffee during the day. Our high school is the complete opposite. Yes some kids may drink in school and banning bottles isn't going to stop them. Those kids are identified pretty early and an a close eye is kept. The vast majority of the kids just want coffee and water.
**lol......perfect! ** That got me to thinking, also try going around a corner about twice the speed limit and put the two right wheels onto the gravel just to test the electronic stability control. Also, a few quick stops from 80 mph to test the brakes. If the roads are icy try stomping on the brake to test the ABS system. You might want to crank up the audio system just to see how it sounds.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
So, what I thought was going to be a quick 5 minute stop, is turning into an "ordeal".
GG, what a great post! Not only did you have a great story, but there was great character development too....with the sleazy car Herb Tarlek salesman. Loved the story, and the insight into what you liked and disliked about the Caddie.
That is really one reason I wouldn't try to cash in on a free gift if I am not really in the market. Seldom do you get something for nothing. There's no point in GM giving out these coupons if you aren't at least going to go through the motions of going for a test drive, and they are going to make sure you pay for that free $50 one way or another.
I still like Brian's idea of going for the test drive and scaring the crap out of the salesman.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
@graphicguy
Sometimes when I redeem a "spiff" I get the impression that they are making me do the whole test drive song-and-dance as punishment for having the temerity to ask to collect my gift card or whatever. I have to say that the "I've never heard of this!" routine that the guy played on you is a golden oldie.
Another thing I've noticed is that it seems that a lot of Cadillac dealers haven't gotten the memo concerning the brand's push to reduce the average age of their customer base; most of the Caddy salespeople I've encountered seem flummoxed by technical/performance questions- and are obviously pining for the days when the only questions they were asked concerned the cost of the gold package and continental kit or the cabriolet roof color choices...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I agree on the live life and enjoy it despite the ups and downs. As l said before Micheal's lost money is more than I've ever had in my life. That's OK. I am one of the fortunate ones with a fixed pension. Unfortunately just as I went in the state fixed it but good eliminating all COLAs until they get the thing actuarialy straightened out. Too bad when I started it was good until kingdom come and then a governor went and raided the fund for her own projects, giving the then retirees a 10% raise when we working stiffs were getting 3% to shut them up. A lot of good that did. Most of those checks go to Florida. But I'll be OK.
I have two cars to pay off and three that are paid for. By the end of this year (actually before) the one will be paid the following year and I'm not buying any more for years (don't faint, Mike). It's like they say "I'm the richest guy here because I have enough."
I want to be like my dad was at 88. He looks at me one day and he says, "I've made my mistakes (so did his son!) but I made a lot of money, lost a lot of money but I've had a great life. If God takes me tomorrow I have no complaints." He got another two years.
My proudest thing is that both my folks, quite independently of each other told me how happy they were the way that I and all my brothers turned out. They were so happy they didn't get a black sheep in there. About as good as it gets.
One nice thing about the recent string of parental medical crisis we had to deal over the last 6 months in my family was the appreciation from them (and they never really asked for anything). And hearing them tell that to people unsolicited. It was nice to be able to give back to them.
Too bad my insane sister does her best to cause drama!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I prefer my Mr. Coffee drip as it is much hotter for some reason.
Several people mentioned they like their coffee so hot. I just made a Keurig coffee at lunch time, took 3 or 4 minutes before I could start drinking it, and I wouldn't want it any hotter - and I add milk to it. I guess there are people who love to burn their mouths off!
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Does anyone remember this invention from the 50s, it makes parallel parking easier?
There is a one minute video of the device in action, and the announcer from the 50s is a laugh;
driving.ca/auto-news/entertainment/how-to-parallel-park-1950s-invention-should-be-a-real-thing/
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Early all wheel steering. Usually on seen on ladder trucks. Nice
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
"Does anyone remember this invention from the 50s, it makes parallel parking easier? "
Funny you should mention that. I have an option on my car - PARK ASSIST. First of all, we have almost no parallel parking down here in south Florida. I have never used the option and would have to research it's operational characteristics in the owners manual.
Secondly, I doubt I would use it even if I could! I could never trust a car to park itself. What I do like is the parking monitors - front and back. They give off an increasingly louder tone the closer you are to an object. Also, the car is equipped with parking monitor lights, front and back which increase in intensity the closer you get to an object.
I can 'to see over my hood in the car nor can I see the rear end. So the sensors are a must when pulling into a spot nose first. The sensors not only detect objects horizontally, but also vertically. The sensors go off when I get close to a parking stoop so I don't scrape the bottom of my front end. Great technology.
But let my car park itself? I don't think so!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Until I saw the picture, I thought this was about curb feelers. That'll stump the younger guys here.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
Does that mean I'm stumped?
Forgot all about curb feelers.....for those who don't know.......
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Wow...haven't seen those in YEARS!
As I look back on the past few years, yes - I made many mistakes - but one mistake I never made was to abandon my son. Everything else has been a fiasco, as you all know. I had a long conversation with him on Sunday evening and I think he understands where he made his mistake.
I think about the parable of the prodigal son as I read your posts these days. I recall my mother's wanting my prodigal sister to have something my oldest sister have asked for. Mom asked me to see that the younger sister got it because she knew the oldest sister wanted it also. That turned out to be a nightmare, but I did my best. I was still amazed after all the troubles with my sister through the years that my mother had such strong feelings because she was the one always getting into difficult circumstances.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
flummoxed. RB, I like that word. Not to mention, there's a lot of it going around.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
Haven't seen what? The curb feelers or a Nash (grandfather had one)?
"Haven't seen what? The curb feelers or a Nash (grandfather had one)?"
My very first car was a 1964, dark green, 2 door Rambler American which, when first introduced in the 1950's, was called the Nash Rambler.
It had a Universal (same engine manufacturer that originally built the Checker Cab) flat-top 6 cylinder engine and a whopping 90 brake horsepower. The only thing that car could beat off the line was a fast moving snail.
But it was inexpensive ($1850 out the door) and it would start every morning, even in below zero temps. The ride was awful, but so were most small cars produced in the US in the 50's and. 60's. At least it was reliable. Not a bad car for the money.
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Mike..... Don't remember much about that Nash, other than when my Grandfather would speed up, so did the car's windshield wipers. Weird!
"Mike..... Don't remember much about that Nash, other than when my Grandfather would speed up, so did the car's windshield wipers. Weird!"
I believe that was caused by the changes in vacuum. Years ago, wipers operated off the vacuum pump - but increased RPM usually would cause the wipers to slow down, not speed up, because increased RPM reduced the available vacuum to accessories because the engine required additional vacuum resources during acceleration.
Anyone else remember the vacuum pumps and acceleration causing reduced wiper speed during acceleration?
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
You should have said "Well I like your shirt I would like to drive something in that color".
Well there you go, a free car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D