Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

houdini1 · September 2016

imidazol97 said:

Hmmm... I was driving from Palo, Iowa to Livingston, Texas. I remember pulling off the road, parking, and laying out on the hood / windshield listening to the car radio. History, good history. I have lived through a number of historical moments, some good, some bad. The Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK's assasination, the first moon landing, 9/11. Most of those bad history, but never to be forgotten. The moon landing, definitely good.

The oldest major events for me are that I remember seeing pictures of war wounded and dead being carried on stretchers in the Korean war. We didn't have a TV but local general store did. I remember how it upset Dad seeing those pictures in the new live TV war coverage. TV shaped out culture for a couple of generations. It used to be reporting, but now it's more opinionated coverage of events or omission of events.

I remember no ac, no indoor plumbing, no electricity...and being happy as clams !! Very good history.

houdini1 · September 2016

andres3 said:

henryn said:
I walked out of the house this morning, ready to leave for work. The 2013 Passat TDI and the 2015 F150 were sitting parked side by side in the driveway, as usual. As I was about to get into the Passat, I snapped that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Between 9:30 p.m. last evening, and 8:30 a.m. this morning, someone stole the hood and the driver’s side front light assembly from my truck.

The truck was locked, but somehow they unlocked it, with no visible signs of damage anywhere. They took the hood, and the bolts that hold it on, neatly. No scratches, no damage to the fenders. They unplugged all 3 of the wiring harnesses which went to the light assembly. Which isn’t that easy to do, would have been much easier to cut the wires.

I found no bolts, no screws, no washers, no nothing. Not laying on the ground, or on the truck. This looked like a very neat, professional job, done by a good auto repair technician.

I called the police, and got a report number. Called the insurance company, got a claims number. Drove the truck over to the Ford dealer’s collision center and left it. Went to Enterprise and picked up a rental (2016 Explorer Limited, more on that later). And I was at work by noon.

Just another day in the ‘hood.

Since they took only 1 body panel, and not two, you may not suffer automatic inherent diminished value, at least according to Carmax. 2 panels and you're treated like dead weight.

Could have been ALIENS. Reminds me of those cattle mutilation stories !

henryn · September 2016

The doors were locked. But this morning all doors were unlocked. Which raises the question of how they unlocked the doors. I could see no signs of damage anywhere, no indication as to how they gained entry.

The way the parts were removed, with the cables neatly unplugged, and no scratches, no left behind parts (not so much as a washer or a screw), the way they gained entry into the cab with no visible damage, a very smooth, very professional job.

sda · September 2016

henryn said:
The doors were locked. But this morning all doors were unlocked. Which raises the question of how they unlocked the doors. I could see no signs of damage anywhere, no indication as to how they gained entry.

The way the parts were removed, with the cables neatly unplugged, and no scratches, no left behind parts (not so much as a washer or a screw), the way they gained entry into the cab with no visible damage, a very smooth, very professional job.

Good grief, and that is an understatement. I wonder if your neighbors witnessed anything? wow

imidazol97 · September 2016

houdini1 said:
I remember no ac, no indoor plumbing, no electricity...and being happy as clams !! Very good history.

I have had 2 out of 3. We always had electricity despite being very rural in location.

houdini1 · September 2016

imidazol97 said:

houdini1 said:
I remember no ac, no indoor plumbing, no electricity...and being happy as clams !! Very good history.
I have had 2 out of 3. We always had electricity despite being very rural in location.

Mom and Dad bought that place in 1946, when I was 3. House and 40 acres, $2800. We got electricity in the late 40's, when the REA (Rural Electric Authority) came through. By the mid fifty's, dad had started a business and was making in excess of $40,000. a year. They loved that place and never moved, it is still in the family. It truly was the land of opportunity back then.

henryn · September 2016

I remember, a few decades back, a tool called a "slim jim". You slid it in between the window and the door frame, and it would allow you to unlock the door. They actually sold the tool at auto parts stores, you could find them easily. But I seem to recall that the various manufacturers all changed their door / window design so that those tools would no longer work.

I also seem to remember stories (urban myths?) about people being killed when they set off an air bag in the door which launched the tool straight into their face or chest.

Let me go look ... here it is, from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_jim_(lock_pick)

A slim jim (more technically known as a lockout tool) is a thin strip of metal (usually spring steel) roughly 60 centimetres (24 in) long and about 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) wide originally marketed under that name by HPC Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of specialty locksmithing tools. Slim Jims are used to unlock automobile doors without use of a key or lock pick. It acts directly on the levers and interconnecting rods that operate the door, completely avoiding the complexity of dealing with the lock mechanism itself. The hooked end of the tool is slipped between a car's window and the rubber seal, catching the rods that connect to the lock mechanism. With careful manipulation, the door can be opened.[1]
Unskilled use of the tool will often detach the lock rods, leaving the lock inoperable even with the key. This is often a clue that someone has attempted to break into a car. Newer cars have also incorporated internal defenses against this tool such as barrier blocks on the bottom of the window, preventing entry, and also shrouding the operating rods and the lock cylinder to prevent manipulation of internal linkages. Others have designed the operating rods to be easily disconnected when engaged with a lateral force – as is often created by the lifting action of the tool.[citation needed]
It has been reported[by whom?] that in modern vehicles there is a chance for setting off the side airbag deployment system of the vehicle, possibly causing injury to a person attempting to use a slim jim. However, according to research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this has not been verified and manufacturers state it is impossible.[2] An episode of MythBusters showed experimenters that were also unable to deploy an airbag with a slim jim.[3]

qbrozen · September 2016

The one time my wife locked her keys in her Pilot, the AAA guy used a couple of plastic wedges to pull the top of the window frame away from the body enough to slip a hook in and unlatch the door that way.

stever · September 2016

When we did that in the van a summer or two ago, the locksmith put an inflatable slim jim gizmo in the top of the door frame, pumped it up a little and that pulled the frame away enough to get the "coat hanger" to reach the button on the door.

That finally made me ziptie one of the valet keys underneath the van like I usually do.

thebean · September 2016

henryn said:

I walked out of the house this morning, ready to leave for work. The 2013 Passat TDI and the 2015 F150 were sitting parked side by side in the driveway, as usual. As I was about to get into the Passat, I snapped that something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Between 9:30 p.m. last evening, and 8:30 a.m. this morning, someone stole the hood and the driver’s side front light assembly from my truck. The truck was locked, but somehow they unlocked it, with no visible signs of damage anywhere. They took the hood, and the bolts that hold it on, neatly. No scratches, no damage to the fenders. They unplugged all 3 of the wiring harnesses which went to the light assembly. Which isn’t that easy to do, would have been much easier to cut the wires. I found no bolts, no screws, no washers, no nothing. Not laying on the ground, or on the truck. This looked like a very neat, professional job, done by a good auto repair technician. I called the police, and got a report number. Called the insurance company, got a claims number. Drove the truck over to the Ford dealer’s collision center and left it. Went to Enterprise and picked up a rental (2016 Explorer Limited, more on that later). And I was at work by noon. Just another day in the ‘hood.

Worst prank ever??? That's unbelievable they could do all that undetected.

Michaell · September 2016

@henryn - that sucks.

Let's hope the Ford dealer has your parts in stock.

houdini1 · September 2016

Snake, that sounds like a good plan. All the luck !

jmonroe · September 2016

henryn said:
I walked out of the house this morning, ready to leave for work. The 2013 Passat TDI and the 2015 F150 were sitting parked side by side in the driveway, as usual. As I was about to get into the Passat, I snapped that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Between 9:30 p.m. last evening, and 8:30 a.m. this morning, someone stole the hood and the driver’s side front light assembly from my truck.

The truck was locked, but somehow they unlocked it, with no visible signs of damage anywhere. They took the hood, and the bolts that hold it on, neatly. No scratches, no damage to the fenders. They unplugged all 3 of the wiring harnesses which went to the light assembly. Which isn’t that easy to do, would have been much easier to cut the wires.

I found no bolts, no screws, no washers, no nothing. Not laying on the ground, or on the truck. This looked like a very neat, professional job, done by a good auto repair technician.

I called the police, and got a report number. Called the insurance company, got a claims number. Drove the truck over to the Ford dealer’s collision center and left it. Went to Enterprise and picked up a rental (2016 Explorer Limited, more on that later). And I was at work by noon.

Just another day in the ‘hood.

That is ridiculous.

Takes a lotta you know what's to do something like that in a persons driveway. The sad part is if either you or a neighbor were to have shot the thieves you'd be in the slammer now.

jmonroe

andres3 · September 2016

Michaell said:
@henryn - that sucks.

Let's hope the Ford dealer has your parts in stock.

Just don't drive at night and you'll be OK, who needs a hood or a headlight anyway?

Joking of course

jmonroe · September 2016

@oldfarmer50, can you verify the extent of what I post below?

Has anyone seen the national news where there is an almost epidemic of drivers not stopping for school buses when they stop to unload students. The segment I saw on local CBS and national news last night showed two students being hit by pickup trucks as they crossed the street after getting off the school bus. Fortunately neither boy was seriously hurt which is amazing especially given the speed of the pickup that hit the second boy. As a result of this epidemic more and more states are going to install cameras to get the license number of the offending vehicles and issue tickets. The report said that this not stopping for a school bus happens many many thousands of times a year across the country.

All of the southern states other than Florida have authorized and/or have installed the cameras. There are a handful of other states across the country that are doing this but the South is very unified about this.

Now listen to this one, there are people who want to fight this because they say it is nothing more than a money grab by the school districts. After what we have been exposed to about speeding tickets here for about a month, I'm not surprised.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · September 2016

roadburner said:
Almost forgot- we also took X3s on the off road course:

Any job openings at your place?

explorerx4 · September 2016

@henryn,
That theft is bizzaro.
Maybe you will get your own parts back.
More likely some bigwig was involved in a hit and run.
They could have gotten in by knowing your keypad code.

oldfarmer50 · September 2016

berri said:
On the lighter side you probably remember hula hoops, slinky's, Duncan yo-yo's and the good Humor ice cream truck.

My uncle was moved to a Naval Air Base in Florida sitting with engines running during that crisis. It was real and some AF planes had nukes on them. I watched the moon landing in a college dorm lounge because it had a color TV

I brought a "portable" TV into work that must have weighed a hundrered pounds. The best part was Walter Cronkite's reaction.

ab348 · September 2016

Dammit, @henryn, that is just unreal. I would suspect a Slim Jim or similar tool. Unless they have a Ford master remote unlock code or some such thing.

oldfarmer50 · September 2016

snakeweasel said:
Well some news on the motorcycle front. Was at an event last Saturday and came across a good deal, an anniversary edition Harley Sportster with 500 miles (yes just 500 miles) for about $5K. OK this is a great deal as I would have to work hard to get this bike in a condition where I can't get my money back even 10 years down the road. Only problem is that I would have to get it here from Florida, an easy solution. So I start to get ready to get information on transporting it and planning on contacting the credit union for the loan.

On Sunday a wrench gets thrown into the gears. Now me and my wife are the youngest of our parents kids and we both have 55 in our rear view mirrors. My wifes sisters will be retiring over the years starting now and most of them have decided on Florida and found a nice active 55 and older gated community that is still under construction. Since many of my sister in laws are planning on getting homes there and that it is 40 minutes from our kids the wife wants us to also get a home there. Now there is an added bonus that it's about an hour from my sister, an aunt and an uncle of mine. The place has a lot of activities including pickelball.

So the wife wants to get a house there for us to retire to in 10-12 years. I think it's a good idea so we found a model we like, 1,100 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths. Yeah it's a lot smaller than what we have but it is just the two of us. So I ran the figure and while it will be tight it is totally doable, but means no bike for the foreseeable future. We talked to a mortgage broker yesterday who says that it would be tight to get the figures right for a second home but thinks it can be worked out.

If this goes through we will have two mortgages, a place in Florida for vacations and when we retire we sell our main home and take the proceeds and pay off that Florida home.

As it is related to a previous discussion the mortgage broker pulled our credit rating and asked if our car payment was for a lease. He was happy that it wasn't. See as a regular car payment it disappears in a couple of months and we have no more car payment and a car, if it were a lease it disappears in a couple of months but so does the car and we would either buy the car or get a new one making our payments continue. The reason it was good that it wasn't a lease is that the numbers wouldn't work out if we were going to continue with a car payment, we would have to much in payments to meet the guidelines for a second home mortgage. Once that car payment drops we could make it work. Wish us luck.

Your wife gets a house and you can't have a lousy used bike? That sounds unfair to me.

ab348 · September 2016

Michaell said:
@henryn - that sucks.

Let's hope the Ford dealer has your parts in stock.

Let's hope it is not a F-150 part like this one:

The Elusive F-150 HVAC Module

oldfarmer50 · September 2016

"

roadburner said:
Almost forgot- we also took X3s on the off road course:

Any job openings at your place?

henryn said:
I walked out of the house this morning, ready to leave for work. The 2013 Passat TDI and the 2015 F150 were sitting parked side by side in the driveway, as usual. As I was about to get into the Passat, I snapped that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Between 9:30 p.m. last evening, and 8:30 a.m. this morning, someone stole the hood and the driver’s side front light assembly from my truck.

The truck was locked, but somehow they unlocked it, with no visible signs of damage anywhere. They took the hood, and the bolts that hold it on, neatly. No scratches, no damage to the fenders. They unplugged all 3 of the wiring harnesses which went to the light assembly. Which isn’t that easy to do, would have been much easier to cut the wires.

I found no bolts, no screws, no washers, no nothing. Not laying on the ground, or on the truck. This looked like a very neat, professional job, done by a good auto repair technician.

I called the police, and got a report number. Called the insurance company, got a claims number. Drove the truck over to the Ford dealer’s collision center and left it. Went to Enterprise and picked up a rental (2016 Explorer Limited, more on that later). And I was at work by noon.

Just another day in the ‘hood.

That's incredible! Don't expect the cops to go beating the bushes for you. Maybe spend the next few weekends browsing repair shops for your parts.

fezo · September 2016

Wow, Henry. Just no words.

Off hiatus, I hope for a longer stay here. A new I don't believe this story.

The last few weeks I've been doing insanely well. While always on medication, pretty well intact. Even most of my just getting old things are under control and was pretty well pain free and ready to build up some strength after literally (not not figuratively but feel it strongly - actually literally) more than two decades I'm feeling pretty good.

Of course there's a then......

The other night I'm using the actual charcoal grill instead of the convenience of the gas grill. Very much like it and until the past few weeks it's been a while. Light using one of those chimney things where a couple of newspaper pages are all you need to get the coals white hot. I empty the coals onto the grid and hear that a piece of one missed the grill and hit the deck. Sounds like it bounced forward. I look and don't see it. I take a step back in my bare feet. Well, then I found it! Hurt like the dickens at first but it calmed down and the next day felt fine but not so the day after that. Finally went to the doctor today and it's a second degree burn just front of the heel in the arch of my right foot. Estimate weeks to really heal. End of my finally back in the ocean season but water temps were making that come soon anyway and my last one was a nice way to end it.

So now I have the double whammy of not only pain but feeling like a complete idiot.

Sigh. This, too, shall pass....

oldfarmer50 · September 2016

jmonroe said:
@oldfarmer50, can you verify the extent of what I post below?

Has anyone seen the national news where there is an almost epidemic of drivers not stopping for school buses when they stop to unload students. The segment I saw on local CBS and national news last night showed two students being hit by pickup trucks as they crossed the street after getting off the school bus. Fortunately neither boy was seriously hurt which is amazing especially given the speed of the pickup that hit the second boy. As a result of this epidemic more and more states are going to install cameras to get the license number of the offending vehicles and issue tickets. The report said that this not stopping for a school bus happens many many thousands of times a year across the country.

All of the southern states other than Florida have authorized and/or have installed the cameras. There are a handful of other states across the country that are doing this but the South is very unified about this.

Now listen to this one, there are people who want to fight this because they say it is nothing more than a money grab by the school districts. After what we have been exposed to about speeding tickets here for about a month, I'm not surprised.

jmonroe

Yeah, lots of red runners. Worst is on 4 lane roads where people don't see or don't realize they have to stop. Also is idiots driving down the shoulder to avoid traffic as kids are getting on or off. That one boggles my mind.

It would be satisfying to have cameras that catch plate numbers but my district is more interested in installing cameras that look at the driver in case we pick our nose or something. :@

jmonroe · September 2016

fezo said:
Wow, Henry. Just no words.

Off hiatus, I hope for a longer stay here. A new I don't believe this story.

The last few weeks I've been doing insanely well. While always on medication, pretty well intact. Even most of my just getting old things are under control and was pretty well pain free and ready to build up some strength after literally (not not figuratively but feel it strongly - actually literally) more than two decades I'm feeling pretty good.

Of course there's a then......

The other night I'm using the actual charcoal grill instead of the convenience of the gas grill. Very much like it and until the past few weeks it's been a while. Light using one of those chimney things where a couple of newspaper pages are all you need to get the coals white hot. I empty the coals onto the grid and hear that a piece of one missed the grill and hit the deck. Sounds like it bounced forward. I look and don't see it. I take a step back in my bare feet. Well, then I found it! Hurt like the dickens at first but it calmed down and the next day felt fine but not so the day after that. Finally went to the doctor today and it's a second degree burn just front of the heel in the arch of my right foot. Estimate weeks to really heal. End of my finally back in the ocean season but water temps were making that come soon anyway and my last one was a nice way to end it.

So now I have the double whammy of not only pain but feeling like a complete idiot.

Sigh. This, too, shall pass....

Good to hear from you again and glad you were just about back to normal. For a while there I thought you were going to tell us your a new man then your normal idiocy kicked in and I knew you were still the same ole 'fez'.

So what else do your plan on doing to yourself now? Roasting weenies can be tough when you've been out of the saddle for a while.

Stick around, this place can cure almost anything but you're going to be a project.

jmonroe

jmonroe · September 2016

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe said:
@oldfarmer50, can you verify the extent of what I post below?

Has anyone seen the national news where there is an almost epidemic of drivers not stopping for school buses when they stop to unload students. The segment I saw on local CBS and national news last night showed two students being hit by pickup trucks as they crossed the street after getting off the school bus. Fortunately neither boy was seriously hurt which is amazing especially given the speed of the pickup that hit the second boy. As a result of this epidemic more and more states are going to install cameras to get the license number of the offending vehicles and issue tickets. The report said that this not stopping for a school bus happens many many thousands of times a year across the country.

All of the southern states other than Florida have authorized and/or have installed the cameras. There are a handful of other states across the country that are doing this but the South is very unified about this.

Now listen to this one, there are people who want to fight this because they say it is nothing more than a money grab by the school districts. After what we have been exposed to about speeding tickets here for about a month, I'm not surprised.

jmonroe
Yeah, lots of red runners. Worst is on 4 lane roads where people don't see or don't realize they have to stop. Also is idiots driving down the shoulder to avoid traffic as kids are getting on or off. That one boggles my mind.

It would be satisfying to have cameras that catch plate numbers but my district is more interested in installing cameras that look at the driver in case we pick our nose or something. :@

Thanks for your input. I was hoping that the news network wasn't blowing this out of proportion for a ratings boost.

About those cameras on your bus, give em what they want...pick your nose or something.

jmonroe

ab348 · September 2016

fezo said:
I empty the coals onto the grid and hear that a piece of one missed the grill and hit the deck. Sounds like it bounced forward. I look and don't see it. I take a step back in my bare feet. Well, then I found it! Hurt like the dickens at first but it calmed down and the next day felt fine but not so the day after that. Finally went to the doctor today and it's a second degree burn just front of the heel in the arch of my right foot. Estimate weeks to really heal.

Ouch, Fezo.

Words to live by: always wear pants when using a soldering iron, and always wear shoes when dealing with white-hot coals unless you are a fakir.

roadburner · September 2016

fezo said:
Wow, Henry. Just no words.

Off hiatus, I hope for a longer stay here. A new I don't believe this story.

The last few weeks I've been doing insanely well. While always on medication, pretty well intact. Even most of my just getting old things are under control and was pretty well pain free and ready to build up some strength after literally (not not figuratively but feel it strongly - actually literally) more than two decades I'm feeling pretty good.

Of course there's a then......

The other night I'm using the actual charcoal grill instead of the convenience of the gas grill. Very much like it and until the past few weeks it's been a while. Light using one of those chimney things where a couple of newspaper pages are all you need to get the coals white hot. I empty the coals onto the grid and hear that a piece of one missed the grill and hit the deck. Sounds like it bounced forward. I look and don't see it. I take a step back in my bare feet. Well, then I found it! Hurt like the dickens at first but it calmed down and the next day felt fine but not so the day after that. Finally went to the doctor today and it's a second degree burn just front of the heel in the arch of my right foot. Estimate weeks to really heal. End of my finally back in the ocean season but water temps were making that come soon anyway and my last one was a nice way to end it.

So now I have the double whammy of not only pain but feeling like a complete idiot.

Sigh. This, too, shall pass....

Several years ago one of my co-workers was pressure washing his deck in his bare feet and noticed a wasp sitting on his foot. He decided to get rid of it with a short blast from the pressure washer. He never tried that again...

stever · September 2016

Don't put hot grits in a jar and shake 'em to distribute the butter.

Luckily it was a plastic jar....

nyccarguy · September 2016

@henryn - WOW! First off, I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Second, professional isn't even the word to use to describe how they meticulously removed the hood, 1/4 panel, & headlight assemblies from your car. Are those Xenon headlights? Those parts taken off your truck were ordered. This is evident because they took specific parts. I'm sure an aluminum hood & aluminum 1/4 panel aren't cheap. I'll bet you they don't make cheap, Chinese aftermarket aluminum body panels for the F150 yet. Keep us updated! Good luck!

fezo · September 2016

Oh, I'll bet not!

"Stick around, this place can cure almost anything but you're going to be a project."

It's in my job description.

Tonight was the gas grill. It was also Mrs. Fezo (for a time she had that for a vanity plate) cooking. That woman is a saint, as you must have figured out by now is a necessity being married to me.

nyccarguy · September 2016

Hey @fezo! Thanks for checking in!

henryn · September 2016

They could have gotten in by knowing your keypad code.

No one else in the world knows that code.

I would suspect a Slim Jim or similar tool. Unless they have a Ford master remote unlock code or some such thing.

A few years back the woman across the street locked her keys in the car. With her young child strapped in a car seat in the back. The first I knew about it was when a fire truck rolled up with his siren going. It took the firemen less than 5 minutes to get into the car. They had very specific tools, they pryed the window out of it’s track, inserted a rubber plug to keep it pryed open. Then used another tool to reach in and pull the door handle. I had forgotten that until just now.

Don’t expect the cops to go beating the bushes for you.

I already know better than that. I just reported it to get an incident number to give to the insurance company. The police did not come out, and I did not expect them to. Back in 2011, I was burglarized by someone I had hired to do some work on the house. After the work was completed, he came back and stole a TV, a DVR, a DVD player, an air compressor, and some other tools. One of my neighbors saw him, and offered to identify him for the police. But the police would not come out, they just took the report over the phone. They were not interested in who did it. Property theft less than $5k, you get an incident number.

Other rambling thoughts:

Fezo, good to hear from you again! An injured foot is no fun, no fun at all.

On the idiots not stopping for the school bus, I have observed that here in Houston. Kind of boggles my mind. There is no respect for anything these days, none whatsoever.

stickguy · September 2016

that would steam my clams, if you had a witness and knew who did it, that they still would not care. The is unconscionable. I can understand petty theft with no evidence isn't going very far. A benefit I guess to living in a smaller suburban town with a good budget. if it had been my truck, there would have been a cop out front within 5 minutes!

one thing though, if they popped the lock with a slim jim, that should have set off your alarm. Makes me wonder if somehow they cloned your remote, or had some hijack tool that spoofs the car into opening?

taking your word of course that you remembered to lock it!

fezo · September 2016

Back in 93 a guy ran a stop sign and t-boned me. Totaled my 85 Accord and did long term damage to me which unfortunately didn't really show up until after the claim was settled. The cop wouldn't give the guy a ticket because he didn't see the guy run the sign. Idiot. Said I'd have to go to the polics station and sign a complaint myself. I could barely move but I went up there and did exactly that.

andres3 · September 2016

jmonroe said:
@oldfarmer50, can you verify the extent of what I post below?

Has anyone seen the national news where there is an almost epidemic of drivers not stopping for school buses when they stop to unload students. The segment I saw on local CBS and national news last night showed two students being hit by pickup trucks as they crossed the street after getting off the school bus. Fortunately neither boy was seriously hurt which is amazing especially given the speed of the pickup that hit the second boy. As a result of this epidemic more and more states are going to install cameras to get the license number of the offending vehicles and issue tickets. The report said that this not stopping for a school bus happens many many thousands of times a year across the country.

All of the southern states other than Florida have authorized and/or have installed the cameras. There are a handful of other states across the country that are doing this but the South is very unified about this.

Now listen to this one, there are people who want to fight this because they say it is nothing more than a money grab by the school districts. After what we have been exposed to about speeding tickets here for about a month, I'm not surprised.

jmonroe

Well, if you took my position that enforcing speeding laws as they currently exist was a complete and utter waste of time, resources, and energy, then we'd have plenty of police man-hours to actually improve safety, like that around school buses, and we could have the cops actually do some productive work, and we wouldn't need those silly big brother cameras everywhere.

If someone is hitting pedestrians they should have the book thrown at them regardless of whether a camera caught them or not. I think we are too soft on actual accident/negligent causers.

andres3 · September 2016

nyccarguy said:
@henryn - WOW! First off, I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Second, professional isn't even the word to use to describe how they meticulously removed the hood, 1/4 panel, & headlight assemblies from your car. Are those Xenon headlights? Those parts taken off your truck were ordered. This is evident because they took specific parts. I'm sure an aluminum hood & aluminum 1/4 panel aren't cheap. I'll bet you they don't make cheap, Chinese aftermarket aluminum body panels for the F150 yet. Keep us updated! Good luck!

I'd suspect body shops would use regular Chinese steel panels and you'd not know the difference since it's painted unless you weighed it???

andres3 · September 2016

henryn said:

They could have gotten in by knowing your keypad code.

No one else in the world knows that code.

I would suspect a Slim Jim or similar tool. Unless they have a Ford master remote unlock code or some such thing.

A few years back the woman across the street locked her keys in the car. With her young child strapped in a car seat in the back. The first I knew about it was when a fire truck rolled up with his siren going. It took the firemen less than 5 minutes to get into the car. They had very specific tools, they pryed the window out of it’s track, inserted a rubber plug to keep it pryed open. Then used another tool to reach in and pull the door handle. I had forgotten that until just now.

Don’t expect the cops to go beating the bushes for you.

I already know better than that. I just reported it to get an incident number to give to the insurance company. The police did not come out, and I did not expect them to. Back in 2011, I was burglarized by someone I had hired to do some work on the house. After the work was completed, he came back and stole a TV, a DVR, a DVD player, an air compressor, and some other tools. One of my neighbors saw him, and offered to identify him for the police. But the police would not come out, they just took the report over the phone. They were not interested in who did it. Property theft less than $5k, you get an incident number.

As I said before, all of the extra new bad laws lessen and weaken the enforcement of the good ones, like burglary and theft. I too have felt pretty ignored if something was stolen out of a vehicle in the past. I'd much rather they spent time reducing vehicle theft and vehicular parts theft.

andres3 · September 2016

Thought you all might get a kick out of this guy ruining his brand new high priced Ferrari!

Now was the cause driver incompetence and unbroken-in brand new tires (driver-error again), or speeding, LOL.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/11/05/watch-man-crashes-1m-ferrari-right-after-leaving-dealership/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_764719

stever · September 2016

explorerx4 said:
@henryn,
That theft is bizzaro.
Maybe you will get your own parts back.
More likely some bigwig was involved in a hit and run.
They could have gotten in by knowing your keypad code.

@henryn, you may have to start keeping your key fobs in the freezer. (NY Times)

And yeah, very bizarre.

berri · September 2016

I've heard that you shouldn't use the fob when locking because it emits a code. I guess either lock them from the power lock inside button or use a key?

jmonroe · September 2016

stever said:

explorerx4 said:
@henryn,
That theft is bizzaro.
Maybe you will get your own parts back.
More likely some bigwig was involved in a hit and run.
They could have gotten in by knowing your keypad code.
@henryn, you may have to start keeping your key fobs in the freezer. (NY Times)

And yeah, very bizarre.

That is an interesting article but I'd rather wrap the fob in some aluminum foil. It will do the same thing without the possibility of condensation from the freeze/thaw process causing damage to the fob. Also, the freezing can't be good for the battery either. I think another way would be to put the fob in an empty can from peas, string beans, apple sauce, etc. as long as you put a metal lid on the can. Again, aluminum foil wrapped over the can opening will also work.

To me the freezer thingy sounds like an overkill but it makes for a better story doing it that way.

jmonroe

andres3 · September 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/truckers-warn-speed-caps-will-cause-crashes-jam-highways/2016/09/15/90e79460-7b61-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_story.html#comments

I'd trust professional drivers (Truckers) far more with driving rules and regulations than I would ignorant stupid overpaid government bureaucrats to set transportation and traffic policy.

stever · September 2016

Funny, when you search for "german truck speed limiter" you wind up with a bunch of hits from gamers trying to get around the 90 km/h (56 mph) limit in Euro Truck Simulator 2. Wiki has the details.

snakeweasel · September 2016

nyccarguy said:

snakeweasel said:

karhill1 said:
"The thing is is that leasing forces you into the new car every X number of years. Now if you trade your car in before your pay it off then yes you never outright own the car. But that's your choice, you could keep it but not with the lease."

Actually, a lease does not force a person into a new car every X number of years.

Nor does a lease inherently result in a person never owing the vehicle.

With a lease a person can do anything a person can do with a purchase. At any time, the lease can be bought out same as a purchase. At any time the leased vehicle can be traded, same as a purchase. At any time, the leased vehicle can be sold, same as a purchase.

These various options make any potential cost resulting from over mileage or even damage mute.

Unlike a purchase, a lease can be given back.

A lease presents some advantages. The obvious first advantage is it is a lower monthly payment. Another advantage is it allows a person to "test drive' the vehicle for a number of months.

Ultimately, if the money factor is relatively low, a lease presents almost no difference than a purchase.

For example, if a person buys a $20K vehicle and finances at 1.9 percent over 60 months, the total amount paid would be $21,000.

If that person leased that $20K vehicle for 36 months with a 55 percent residual and a money factor of .0008, the monthly lease payment would be about $292. This includes a $600 acquisition fee. The residual would be $11,000.

If the person bought the vehicle after the lease, the total amount paid would be about $21,500. Not really different than if the person had purchased the vehicle in the first place. The difference being the lease acquisition fee.

The only question is if the extra $500 is a good expenditure to gain the advantages of the lease.

Unfortunately most people have no knowledge of how a lease actually works. With the right knowledge, a person can make any lease work for them.

If you do not buy the car after the lease ends or get a new lease then you are out a car, that's what forces you to buy.

Now the $20K car at 1.9% comes to a total of $20,980.86 or $980.86.

Now the lease to pay off that residual in 2 years at 1.9% interest would require a $467 monthly payment. To keep that $292 payment you would have to take out a loan that is over 3 additional years. Now if you pay it off in the two years you pay and additional $750 give or take. A 75% increase in interest paid.

Now consider this at the end of three years with the lease buying the car at the end of the lease you will have an $11,000 car that you owe $11,000 on. After three years of payments you will owe $8,228.50 on a car that's worth $11,000.
Yup! That's part of the "pro finance" argument. On a lease, generally your payments are less because it is based on a higher residual for a longer term. On a cAr with a 55% residual value after 3 years, you are paying for 45% of the car over 3 years. If you finance with nothing down, at the 2 1/2 year mark your car is 50% paid off. Go another 6 months and you're almost guaranteed to have equity in the car.

It's not really that, but when and how fast do you get equity and when the equity would be practically the same between the two. But my main thing is the 75% increase in what you pay in interest, more if you stretch out the end of lease purchase payments to try to match the lease payments.

While I am not against leasing if it fits what you want (a new car every few years), leasing then buying after the lease doesn't seem to make much sense at least to me.

nyccarguy · September 2016

"While I am not against leasing if it fits what you want (a new car every few years), leasing then buying after the lease doesn't seem to make much sense at least to me."

Agreed

fintail · September 2016

I'm still thinking I might buy out my lease, as the car is fairly rare, and there might not be an equivalent on the market when the lease is up. Time will tell.

graphicguy · September 2016

@henryn....that's nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say it's druggies that did that, but it was too meticulous for any stoned person(s) to do. That was a professional job. And, I bet they're quite practiced at it. Plus, who would be looking for thieves fencing hoods light bezels and ¼ panels? Pretty stealth.

You guys have put up with me railing against Cadillacs. But, if you get one that runs/works the way they're supposed to, they really are great cars.

Locking....I walk away from the car with Fob in my pocket. Once out of range, the car locks itself.

Inching up to 24 MPG in mixed driving as I approach 10K miles. So, all-in-all, I'm pleased.

andres3 · September 2016

graphicguy said:
@henryn....that's nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say it's druggies that did that, but it was too meticulous for any stoned person(s) to do. That was a professional job. And, I bet they're quite practiced at it. Plus, who would be looking for thieves fencing hoods light bezels and ¼ panels? Pretty stealth.

You guys have put up with me railing against Cadillacs. But, if you get one that runs/works the way they're supposed to, they really are great cars.

Locking....I walk away from the car with Fob in my pocket. Once out of range, the car locks itself.

Inching up to 24 MPG in mixed driving as I approach 10K miles. So, all-in-all, I'm pleased.

Sounds like the solution for Cadillac is to do the following:

Copy Car Max's policy of 5-day returns for any reason, extend it to 500 days, and allow as many transfers as required until you find one that works well enough.

Chrysler couldn't do this because pretty much all of their cars are lemons. I've inspected other Neon's other than my own in the past, so I know I didn't get a bad one.

fezo · September 2016

graphicguy said:
@henryn....that's nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say it's druggies that did that, but it was too meticulous for any stoned person(s) to do. That was a professional job. And, I bet they're quite practiced at it. Plus, who would be looking for thieves fencing hoods light bezels and ¼ panels? Pretty stealth.

You guys have put up with me railing against Cadillacs. But, if you get one that runs/works the way they're supposed to, they really are great cars.

Locking....I walk away from the car with Fob in my pocket. Once out of range, the car locks itself.

Inching up to 24 MPG in mixed driving as I approach 10K miles. So, all-in-all, I'm pleased.

Dang. Your CTS mileage is like both my 5 and the Miata!

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