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Thanks!!
Looks like we could get more snow later in the week. I'll get more chances to make use of it I'm sure!
Cobra
That's why I love it here, high was 65 today, that is a cold snap. Sorry for all your snow around the country folks.
Let me take this time to warn those thinking of moving to AZ.
Traffic is massive, pollution is high, taxes are too. Wages are somewhat lower since many ppl move here for the weather.
License plates and insurance for cars is much higher than many states. I often read in the newspaper about recent arrivals asking why their former states $30.00 auto plates are now $330.00 in AZ.
just my 11 cent comment ((-;
I've got mud flaps ordered for our LS ....... seems Midway had to bring them in from outta state.
the $330.00 was only an example of what ppl complain about, not the actuall cost of new car plates here in AZ.
AZ still uses a percentage deal of per $100.00 value for plate costs. They claim to be lowering that percent amount.
Sales tax varies around here. In Maricopa County it's the highest in the sate since we are paying for so many things. Such as a new 340 millon dollar statium for a *loser football team* the AZ Cardinals.
There is so much construction every where the roads are either torn up or the road way is littered with crap from construction trucks.
Windsheilds don't last long here. Our LS got it's first replacement after we owned it for 2.5 months.
Some ppl claim property taxes are higher here too. That I do not know about since I am an Arizona native......actually born here.
Our summers are AWESOME (both weeks!)
Those of us who live along the NH border do our shopping there with NO sales tax and pay the far lower Maine real estate taxes than neighboring NH or Mass. We do have excise tax on vehicle registrations and pay ME sales tax 5.5% on purchase of vehicles. I forget the income tax rate - but it is very reasonable and the calculation allows you much of the federal deductions and other offsets.
The winters are cold though! It will be April before it gets decent again.
Ken
We got over a foot of snow on Monday. The Impala was flawless. I had no problems getting anywhere. The ABS and traction control really make getting around in snow easy. It was -5 last night. The heated seats were really great.
I have (had) the infamous cradle problem. I took it in to the dealer and they installed a shim kit. I think someone suggested that this wasn't a good solution but I figured I'd give it a try. So far, so good. Time will tell.
We are missing the real winter somewhat since immigrating from Russia. There are only two seasons in CT: a summer May to October, and a fall all other months.
Just looked for the driving directions. Augusta, ME is somewhat far from us, 300 miles driving. But the ME/NH border is not so far, less than 200 miles.
We were in Newburyport, MA couple of times: this is a 2.5 hour drive, if using the I-495 to avoid the Boston traffic. Looks as it would take 3-3.5 hours to the Southern ME.
In Oregon we only pay $50 (or is it $60 now..) to licence and DEQ our vehicles. In neighboring Wash, they "used" to charge a per-vehicle registration based on the value of your car. This was totally weird and dinging for new car owners who could pay up to $800 to licence a vehicle, but could pay as little as $80 for an old clunker. Which vehicle is hardest on roads? BOTH! so why you have to pay more because you've purchased something new is beyond me... and beyond many others... they voted it out last year. Our property taxes are high, and we have state income tax but NO SALES TAXES... one of the few left without it... I believe Portland just won Money Magazine's top places to live 2000. Cool....
You can't bet it if you're looking for a cup of coffee.. heheheh or a beer....
http://www.mnsc.com/xcski.htm
Sorry for bothering you.
As for Maine - I live just accross border from Portsmouth N.H. in Kittery, Me. - the southernmost town in the state. Our summers are wonderful - coastal breezes keep it comfortable. Winter here is often bare until January, then snow covers ground till mid Feb. We have excellent cross country skiiing and sledding on local golf courses and parks after a good snow fall - but not so many groomed trails nearby.
It takes 2.5 hours to get to Hartford from here - I'm not sure where in CT you live. I pass through your state every month en route to PA for business, traveling Rt 84 in my old Grand Marquis.
The site you referenced has great skiing places. The ones I am familiar with are Bethel Inn - have stayed and skied there - very elegant inn and restaurant and good trails - you'd like it - and Sunday River resort - both are in Bethel which is about 2 hours north of me. Also Smiling Hill Farm would be excellent if your kids are young. All ours love the animals there but we have not skied it - did not realize they have trials there. It is about 1 hour north of me - just above Portland. Sugarloaf resort is excellent - but 3 hours north of me.
NH mountains would appeal to you. Again - 2 hours north - straight up Rt 93. Check out the Loon Mountain area in Lincoln where we have a time share - a great place. Also Bretton Woods which has arguably the best cross-country trails in the state as well as great downhill trails.
Winter in these areas lasts from Thanksgiving - February with spring skiing conditions (spotty) in March.
Hope you get some good skiing in this year.
Ken
We live near New Haven, CT. About 40-45 minutes drive from Hartford, but a bit less to I-84, 30 minutes or so.
Concerning the car: we have a Buick Regal, not Impala. Bought it in October. Started planning to replace car last winter, and in early spring already decided our new car will be an Impala LS. Then test-drove a Regal GS and were sold on its power.
Mississippi is a good place to live and we have lots of famous people who are from here. Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Elvis Presley, Trent Lott, Oprah Winfrey, Leann Rimes, just to name a few. In fact when I was 17 years old one summer, I worked for Mississippi State University campus landscape and worked with Jerry Rice's brother. A few years ago, I got the opportunity to meet Jerry Rice in person. He is a very kind player. He autographed anything I wanted to have autographed. I had a jersey, two magazines, and several football cards for him to autograph. He gets a very bad rap from the sports media as being selfish, but I totally disagree.
As far as tag prices go, I think I paid around $300 dollars for my tag for my 2001 Impala LS. May all have a great day!
In VA, tags are $26 + depending on personalization, etc. This is a yearly fee. We have 4.5% sales tax and personal property taxes at 4%. Our governor ran on the platform of getting rid of PPT. His plan was to phase it out over 5 years. We are into our third year and it has decreased by 50%; however, there is no money now, so it will stay at 50% next year.
You guys paying $300 - $500; that is a ONE TIME FEE, right???
Am I the only Floridian in this board?
Toon1 - These are not one time fees. They decrease each year with the decrease in the cars value.
In Colorado we pay a flat 4.65% income tax (on the net income on our federal returns), about 1% real estate tax. Sales tax varies by locality. In our town we pay 6.65%.
There is a state law in Colorado that limit the amount of taxes that the state can keep and spend. The limit increase is tied to inflation and population every year. We have had a surplus for the past few years, and the state rebates the surplus back at filing time. They lowered that tax rate from 5% to 4.65%, but there is still a surplus.
I know that on the east coast property taxes can be very high, as can income taxes. They get our money one way or another. It seems that what we did in Colorado is the only way to stop the tax monster.
Ken
The pride of Kiln, Mississippi and the whole state of Wisconsin!
Just giving you a hard time 'bro! Back to cars.
Regards,
Peter J
Cobra
Teo
If I don't get back to work before long I am going to come and see you. Care to go deep sea fishing. That's about all I will want to do. Maybe cruise the beachfront for babes. HAHA
Cobra
I dont know if this post will show up twice since a previous post of mine never made it to the list.
Anyway...I wanted to chime in my 2 cents on the 3.4 vs 3.8 acceleration times. I really tend to believe the Car and Driver times as pretty close to accurate even if they are estimated times. I personally own a Jeep Wrangler with a 2.5 liter and that has actual 0-60 times of 10.5 sec s and I am positive that my base Impala with the "little" engine blows it away. Plus if you take a simple comparison of the PontiaK Aztek (which has the same engine..I have the Dealer brochure right next to me..dont ask me why though lol)
Edmunds has the 0-60 time of 9.2 ticks. Keep in mind that the Aztek weighs almost 400 lbs more than the base Impala, plus it is a much higher profile vehicle which would have a greater coefficient of drag than the Impala, which I believe is a .31 CoD.
Granted the performance ratings that Edmunds lists regarding the Azteks engine gives it 5 more horse and torque but I believe that the weight and aerodynamic difference more than offsets that.
Even all things being equal qithout accounting for any of the above mentioned differences the 9.2 is faster than the 10.1 that was quoted in the forum earlier.
Now for my comments regarding synthetic oil vs dino oil
I have found that in my vehicles using synthetic actually pays for itself and then some due to the savings I achieve in gas mileage.
My Jeep consistently achived 17 mpg for 2 years before I switched to synthetic. Immediately I noticed a jump to 20 mpg. My driving style has not changed.
My cruising range on a tank went from 250 to 300 miles. Doing the math I realized a gain of 50 miles per tank(and week) which equates to 2.5 gallons of gas. At last fill up I paid 1.60 a gallon which means I save 4 dollars a week by using the synthetic. With my Jeep I actually make money because I change the oil every 3-4 months and after one month I recoup the total cost of the synthetic oil, not just the differnece between the synthetic and conventional. I have seen a net gain of 2 mpg in my Impala as well. I wont bore you all with the math from that lol. This doesnt even factor in the reduced wear on engine parts during start up, the reduced sludge build up, and the horsepower gains . I have seen figures espousing the horsepower gains from using synthetic to be anywhere from 3-10 net HP. I think 10 is pushing it IMHO however.
hopefully this makes sense and makes it to the posting list.
Peace
I dont know if this post will show up twice since a previous post of mine never made it to the list.
Anyway...I wanted to chime in my 2 cents on the 3.4 vs 3.8 acceleration times. I really tend to believe the Car and Driver times as pretty close to accurate even if they are estimated times. I personally own a Jeep Wrangler with a 2.5 liter and that has actual 0-60 times of 10.5 sec s and I am positive that my base Impala with the "little" engine blows it away. Plus if you take a simple comparison of the PontiaK Aztek (which has the same engine..I have the Dealer brochure right next to me..dont ask me why though lol)
Edmunds has the 0-60 time of 9.2 ticks. Keep in mind that the Aztek weighs almost 400 lbs more than the base Impala, plus it is a much higher profile vehicle which would have a greater coefficient of drag than the Impala, which I believe is a .31 CoD.
Granted the performance ratings that Edmunds lists regarding the Azteks engine gives it 5 more horse and torque but I believe that the weight and aerodynamic difference more than offsets that.
Even all things being equal qithout accounting for any of the above mentioned differences the 9.2 is faster than the 10.1 that was quoted in the forum earlier.
Now for my comments regarding synthetic oil vs dino oil
I have found that in my vehicles using synthetic actually pays for itself and then some due to the savings I achieve in gas mileage.
My Jeep consistently achived 17 mpg for 2 years before I switched to synthetic. Immediately I noticed a jump to 20 mpg. My driving style has not changed.
My cruising range on a tank went from 250 to 300 miles. Doing the math I realized a gain of 50 miles per tank(and week) which equates to 2.5 gallons of gas. At last fill up I paid 1.60 a gallon which means I save 4 dollars a week by using the synthetic. With my Jeep I actually make money because I change the oil every 3-4 months and after one month I recoup the total cost of the synthetic oil, not just the differnece between the synthetic and conventional. I have seen a net gain of 2 mpg in my Impala as well. I wont bore you all with the math from that lol. This doesnt even factor in the reduced wear on engine parts during start up, the reduced sludge build up, and the horsepower gains . I have seen figures espousing the horsepower gains from using synthetic to be anywhere from 3-10 net HP. I think 10 is pushing it IMHO however.
hopefully this makes sense and makes it to the posting list.
Peace
Cobra