Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

graphicguy said:
Interestingly, I asked the Chevy dealer where I stopped to test drive the Bolt whether they had any Volt leftovers. He said right after GM said they were going to stop making them, and offering a bunch of rebates, they sold everyone they had (about a dozen) in two weeks.

@suydam ...don’t disagree with you about the lack of comfort in the Bolt. But, if you’re only using it for in-town driving, not sure that would matter. That said, coming from the TLX, and what I consider probably some of the best seats in the price range, I might be more susceptible to getting tired of the Bolt in short order.

Still, for a $25K price after all rebates, I don’t know why someone would buy an econobox over the Bolt (which will probably have econobox seats, also)? The value equation at that price is crazy good.

I’m not their target market.

Maybe the Tesla....looking to test drive one. I don’t think they’re doing much in the way of discounting them, though. No reason to be in a hurry to test one.

As someone pointed out if you make less than six figures you don’t get the full tax break. Such people might find a minimalist car like a Fit, Mirage or Mazda 2 for under $15k even more attractive. Those cars might be a fate worse than death to true car enthusiasts but for the masses they can be better than nothing.

I wouldn’t get the full benefit from the tax break so EVs aren’t even close to my list.

Speaking of seats, I drove a BMW 330i yesterday that had some of the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat in.

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

ab348 said:
Getting into the Holiday spirit. These guys no doubt did.

https://youtu.be/LO-QNizPxJI

There was a better version of this that subbed an Andy Williams Christmas song for the actual background sound, which made it funnier, but it was taken down.

Too much egg nog?

qbrozen · December 2019

You can do far worse than a Fit or Mazda2. Those at least handle well and are fun to toss around.

PF_Flyer · December 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:
Getting into the Holiday spirit. These guys no doubt did.

https://youtu.be/LO-QNizPxJI

There was a better version of this that subbed an Andy Williams Christmas song for the actual background sound, which made it funnier, but it was taken down.

Too much egg nog?

Likely during the annual Santa Crawl. I was in NYC a few years ago for it. We got on the train in NJ, and at each stop, more and more Santas got on board until the train was packed and I was about the only "civilian". There were over 5,000 of them, roaming from bar to bar. We have a local crawl that draws pretty well. Here's the official photo from this year

PF_Flyer · December 2019

Analysts and "experts" never seem to be ahead of anything

CarMax Earnings
Estimates: Analysts expected CarMax earnings to climb 6.4% to $1.16. Revenue was seen growing 9.6% to $4.71 billion, according to Zacks Investment Research. Same-store sales were forecast expected to climb 5.95%, according to Consensus Metrix estimates.

Results: CarMax earnings declined 7% to $1.02 per share, which the company blamed on "significantly higher stock-based compensation expense" due to a higher share price, as well as advertising expenses. Revenue climbed 11.4% to $4.79 billion. Used vehicle sales in comparable stores grew 7.5%.

imidazol97 · December 2019

I saw a Leaf on I70 years ago near Columbus on its way back to somewhere near Springfield, a long commute in terms of the Leaf's then maximum distance. I doubt that car was kept long if it were a commuter rather than a one shot trip. Needing electric heat in winter and AC run by the electricity in the summer, no thank you.

I would however take a Volt. Several months ago I saw a used Volt on the dealer's lot where I get my Chevy serviced. He had a large number of Volts on the new lot near the end of production. They all disappeared.

tifighter · December 2019

qbrozen said:
The commonly low mileage is a testament to how useless they are.

Or that they were just more appropriate as a second car. In our 5 years of having an early EV, we drove a total of around 33K miles. But it was driven more days than our other ICE car by far - every day as my wife's commuter, every grocery trip, every errand run, etc. The no-maintenance and ultra-cheap running costs are a nice perk.

28firefighter · December 2019

tifighter said:

qbrozen said:
The commonly low mileage is a testament to how useless they are.
Or that they were just more appropriate as a second car. In our 5 years of having an early EV, we drove a total of around 33K miles. But it was driven more days than our other ICE car by far - every day as my wife's commuter, every grocery trip, every errand run, etc. The no-maintenance and ultra-cheap running costs are a nice perk.

This is how things are shaking out for us with the i3. We are using it as much as we can because the running cost is so much lower relative to the Outback.

stickguy · December 2019

That to me is the oddity about a small EV. Traditionally little local runabouts were cheap. But with that leaf, it was priced like your regular nice car. Might be cheap to run, but expensive up front.

stickguy · December 2019

Opinion question. When does everyone do brakes? RDX got serviced and they noted rear brakes (original) as needing attention “soon”. Pads measured 4mm so in their yellow range. So options are do early, wait until lower, or wait until you hear metal grinding and just automatically replace rotors too?

qbrozen · December 2019

stickguy said:
Opinion question. When does everyone do brakes? RDX got serviced and they noted rear brakes (original) as needing attention “soon”. Pads measured 4mm so in their yellow range. So options are do early, wait until lower, or wait until you hear metal grinding and just automatically replace rotors too?

I do it before metal-on-metal but the stars of weather and free time have to align, so there is no exact thickness for me.

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

qbrozen said:

stickguy said:
Opinion question. When does everyone do brakes? RDX got serviced and they noted rear brakes (original) as needing attention “soon”. Pads measured 4mm so in their yellow range. So options are do early, wait until lower, or wait until you hear metal grinding and just automatically replace rotors too?
I do it before metal-on-metal but the stars of weather and free time have to align, so there is no exact thickness for me.

I like to roll into the shop 10 seconds before the brakes start grinding.

PF_Flyer · December 2019

stickguy said:
Opinion question. When does everyone do brakes? RDX got serviced and they noted rear brakes (original) as needing attention “soon”. Pads measured 4mm so in their yellow range. So options are do early, wait until lower, or wait until you hear metal grinding and just automatically replace rotors too?

Unless some strange noise suddenly starts up, I do brakes when they won't pass state inspection

ab348 · December 2019

Just another message from the stars telling you it's trade-in time!

nyccarguy · December 2019

ab348 said:
Just another message from the stars telling you it's trade-in time!

+1

Post of the day!

tjc78 · December 2019

I couldn’t tell you the last time I did brake pads on anything.

stickguy · December 2019

You know, if I had today off instead of sneaking out while “working” I might have stopped next door at BMW to try and throw together a deal before heading into service. Alas not enough time. Now I want to get my moneys worth out of the new fluids I just paid for!

Also the wife was not there, and is buried with year end work. Even if she wanted to not enough time to get out and look. But maybe over New Years! The 31st we might be free.

stickguy · December 2019

Brakes, probably good at least another year. So will wait to hear the wear bars if I don’t sell it first.

explorerx4 · December 2019

@stickguy ,
Do you know who thick the rear pads are when new?
A lot of times rear pads are thinner than front ones.

laurasdada · December 2019

Season's Greetings, folks. Just back from a quick trip to LA; Dad's 86th birthday. As usual saw one of everything car-wise, notbaly McClarens... 911s everywhere.

Rented a Kia Optima, probably base model. Cloth seats, so didn't miss/need heaters, but the unheated plastic steering wheel made my hands protest; yeah I'm that manly. Quiet at idle, less so at acceleration, much road noise. Big stinkin' trunk. Handled well. Only thing that really stood out was the power steering: after dinner with Dad, started the Optima but the PS didn't initialize. Fun trying to manuever with no assist (yeah, I'm that manly), finally rebooted the car and the PS returned.

Did Universal Studios, which I"ve done a few times; less a theme park more a shopping mall, mostly Harry Potter related. But, the few rides were fun, including the Potter ride. Walking Dead truly scared the finace, especially when I used her as a human shield; yeah, I'm that manly.

Weather in the 60s during the day, in the teens upon return. I continue to love New England; the fiance really liked Santa Monica, said she could envision living there. She must have millions hidden somewhere...

imidazol97 · December 2019

stickguy said:
Opinion question. When does everyone do brakes? RDX got serviced and they noted rear brakes (original) as needing attention “soon”. Pads measured 4mm so in their yellow range. So options are do early, wait until lower, or wait until you hear metal grinding and just automatically replace rotors too?

4 mm seems like quite a bit for rear brakes in terms of life from my experience. The rears do less work than the front because there's less weight on them to keep the tire from slipping as more brake force is applied.

What is the thickness of the original pads? 12 mm? A couple of rockauto info clicks says theirs are 14 mm new.

stickguy · December 2019

I don’t know. The fronts have about 12k miles on replacement brakes and they are at 8mm.

I will just consider them to be good enough to get me to trade in time!

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

I may not leave the house until after Christmas. Went to the drug store at the mall and it was bedlam. Everybody in such a festive mood. I proceeded through a 3 way stop intersection where I had the right of way only to get a 20 second horn blast from some girl who thought her stop sign meant that I should stop for her. Same behavior at every traffic light too. I watched a car hesitate a second when the light changed and get punished with a long horn blast as the offended driver followed down the road.

Later I went for some take out and ran into massive traffic. I couldn’t take a left turn anywhere. By the time I got home everything was ice cold. It’s madness!

Ho ho ho.

And to keep this car related, the local car wash burned down today.????

stickguy · December 2019

I did order new air and cabin filters from amazon. Will get them Monday. Not paying $49 for dealer to put in just the air filter. The oil change didn’t cost that much!

explorerx4 · December 2019

I checked some pads on rockauto, too. The depth included the backing plate, not just the pad.

imidazol97 · December 2019

I price compare Ebay and amazon and rockauto.com. My cabin filter AC Delco came from amazon. Amazingly it was 4$ less than my previous purchase of one the 2 years ago.

ab348 · December 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
I may not leave the house until after Christmas. Went to the drug store at the mall and it was bedlam. Everybody in such a festive mood. I proceeded through a 3 way stop intersection where I had the right of way only to get a 20 second horn blast from some girl who thought her stop sign meant that I should stop for her. Same behavior at every traffic light too. I watched a car hesitate a second when the light changed and get punished with a long horn blast as the offended driver followed down the road.

Later I went for some take out and ran into massive traffic. I couldn’t take a left turn anywhere. By the time I got home everything was ice cold. It’s madness!

Ho ho ho.

And to keep this car related, the local car wash burned down today.????

Sounds like here. Went out yesterday and the larger of the two Harbor bridges was at a standstill because of a protest be 400 logging truckers over the shutdown of a pulp mill. Then went to a big shopping park and it was near gridlock with lots of numbskull behaviour, no surprise really. Today I wanted to visit the neighborhood grocery store but could barely get off my block because the connecting street was stop and crawl due to a water main bursting. Was glad just to get home in one piece.

ab348 · December 2019

Odd situation here. I finally decided to get a replacement cat to have some company here. Went a couple of times to the shelter that I’ve supported for years, decided on one, and picked her up yesterday afternoon. Got home, opened the carrier, and watched her slowly come out and cautiously check out the living room. Went into the kitchen to put out a water bowl, and I haven’t seen her since. My place isn’t that big but I am stumped by where she is hiding. Cannot find her. I put out food and when I got up today it had been eaten, and she had found the litter box overnight too, so that’s good. But she needs to come out and let me interact with her soon!

jmonroe · December 2019

explorerx4 said:
@stickguy ,
Do you know who thick the rear pads are when new?
A lot of times rear pads are thinner than front ones.

Since most people don't know when brake pads should be replaced. Years ago an accepted practice was to replace pads when they have worn down to the thickness of the backing plate. That is being a little conservative but you'll never be in trouble following that rule. I personally think that 4 mms thickness is when I'd replace pads. No sense grinding rotors because you'd like to get another 1 mm of wear out of brake pads.

jmonroe

tifighter · December 2019

ab348 said:
Odd situation here. I finally decided to get a replacement cat to have some company here. Went a couple of times to the shelter that I’ve supported for years, decided on one, and picked her up yesterday afternoon. Got home, opened the carrier, and watched her slowly come out and cautiously check out the living room. Went into the kitchen to put out a water bowl, and I haven’t seen her since. My place isn’t that big but I am stumped by where she is hiding. Cannot find her. I put out food and when I got up today it had been eaten, and she had found the litter box overnight too, so that’s good. But she needs to come out and let me interact with her soon!

I've seen this show before. She'll pop out in a day or two once she's more comfortable with the new settings. She would probably be more at ease if you drove a Jaguar. Or Lincoln.

I'll see myself out...

driver100 · December 2019

This is when you know you need new brakes:

ab348 · December 2019

tifighter said:
qShe would probably be more at ease if you drove a Jaguar. Or Lincoln.

I'll see myself out...

She was yowling during the drive home from the shelter but I figured she was just saying how much she liked riding in a Caddy. Hope she’s not a Lincoln gal.

omarman · December 2019

Do you have a live cut Christmas tree? As a kitten my cat used to like to hide around (or in) the tree.

Car-related emotorcon tree topper

ab348 · December 2019

No tree here. I am well and truly stumped.

suydam · December 2019

It’s amazing how they can disappear! Mine used to jump in a drawer — and CLOSE THE DRAWER! The first time I opened a drawer and found her in it I about jumped out of my skin!

stickguy · December 2019

thanks JM. I think the big decision point is about rotors. If you plan to keep them as is or do a minor resurface, change pads sooner. If you know the rotors are going to be replaced too, just run the pads to the nubs.

omarman · December 2019

I used to warn guests that our cat could open the bathroom vanity doors, climb inside and then wait for just the right moment to leap out when someone entered the room. Ironically after warning friends about this, only my wife and I were ever targeted.

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

ab348 said:
Odd situation here. I finally decided to get a replacement cat to have some company here. Went a couple of times to the shelter that I’ve supported for years, decided on one, and picked her up yesterday afternoon. Got home, opened the carrier, and watched her slowly come out and cautiously check out the living room. Went into the kitchen to put out a water bowl, and I haven’t seen her since. My place isn’t that big but I am stumped by where she is hiding. Cannot find her. I put out food and when I got up today it had been eaten, and she had found the litter box overnight too, so that’s good. But she needs to come out and let me interact with her soon!

Cats do things in their own due time. For some reason ours insists on going out every morning in 10 degree F weather to frolick in the snow. Also doesn’t care if it's raining and will stay out until soaking wet.

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

Here’s a question for you Chevy experts.

In looking at various listings for Chevy Malibus I see in addition to the major trim levels LS, LT etc. some sub trim levels like 1FT, 1LT and 2LT. What are these exactly?

Do they make these designations deliberately confusing?

ab348 · December 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you Chevy experts.

In looking at various listings for Chevy Malibus I see in addition to the major trim levels LS, LT etc. some sub trim levels like 1FT, 1LT and 2LT. What are these exactly?

Do they make these designations deliberately confusing?

The answer to your last question is "yes".

Chevy seemed to have adopted a convention of offering 3 trim levels: LS, LT, and LTZ. LS was low-end, LTZ the highest. But then they seemed to get away from LTZ and use "Premier" instead. To muddy the waters further, some vehicles have trim sub-series like 1LT for the lowest level LT, then 2LT and 3LT each with more goodies, but they still have LS (or in some cases, even just plain L) at the lower end and Premier or LTZ up top.

Then there's Ford with S, SE, SEL, Titanium, and Platinum.

Michaell · December 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you Chevy experts.

In looking at various listings for Chevy Malibus I see in addition to the major trim levels LS, LT etc. some sub trim levels like 1FT, 1LT and 2LT. What are these exactly?

Do they make these designations deliberately confusing?

The "sub" trim levels may also designate which engine the car is equipped with. I know that's the case with the Equinox.

imidazol97 · December 2019

I tried finding on the chevrolet site in building a model for 2020 where the option groups are added. I started with an LT and did get to an option package I LT and II LT. They used those two terms. I didn't find a 1 FT package.

But those sound like option packages that modify the basic grouping of options included in the model specified.

I thought Edmunds used to use the package names that are the numbers and letters. But I couldn't find them there--they use the full names, like Convenience Package 2.
Just for fun here's the RPO list of options that will show on the build sheet in the trunk or glovebox to show the levels and options on the vehicle.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/96transam/rpocodes.html

driver100 · December 2019

ab348 said:
Got home, opened the carrier, and watched her slowly come out and cautiously check out the living room. Went into the kitchen to put out a water bowl, and I haven’t seen her since. My place isn’t that big but I am stumped by where she is hiding.

Hope you find Kitty soon ab. Once when I was a kid I let a stray cat into the house. He went everywhere and checked the place out completely before deciding to move in. That was Dino....he loved spaghetti.

qbrozen · December 2019

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you Chevy experts.

In looking at various listings for Chevy Malibus I see in addition to the major trim levels LS, LT etc. some sub trim levels like 1FT, 1LT and 2LT. What are these exactly?

Do they make these designations deliberately confusing?
The answer to your last question is "yes".

Chevy seemed to have adopted a convention of offering 3 trim levels: LS, LT, and LTZ. LS was low-end, LTZ the highest. But then they seemed to get away from LTZ and use "Premier" instead. To muddy the waters further, some vehicles have trim sub-series like 1LT for the lowest level LT, then 2LT and 3LT each with more goodies, but they still have LS (or in some cases, even just plain L) at the lower end and Premier or LTZ up top.

Then there's Ford with S, SE, SEL, Titanium, and Platinum.

Gotta keep an eye out for the rare and highly desirable 5H1TZ trim.

oldfarmer50 · December 2019

imidazol97 said:
I tried finding on the chevrolet site in building a model for 2020 where the option groups are added. I started with an LT and did get to an option package I LT and II LT. They used those two terms. I didn't find a 1 FT package.

But those sound like option packages that modify the basic grouping of options included in the model specified.

I thought Edmunds used to use the package names that are the numbers and letters. But I couldn't find them there--they use the full names, like Convenience Package 2.
Just for fun here's the RPO list of options that will show on the build sheet in the trunk or glovebox to show the levels and options on the vehicle.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/96transam/rpocodes.html

I was looking at older used Malibus 2010-13. I guess the FT stood for Fleet which in itself is confusing. What exactly is a Fleet trim level? Does that mean it was a rental? Or does that mean it’s a stripped down version?

Difficult to make comparisons between used cars for sale.

suydam · December 2019

Easiest just to get the Premier. Then you know it has everything! Although our Encore was “Conveience Package” — with some extras. Crazy!

stickguy · December 2019

fleet is usually either really stripped (think, no side mirrors or carpet!) or the prior generation that they kept making for fleet only sales and not normal retail. GM often called that "classic" models.

suydam · December 2019

We had one like that as a rental. They called it a “Classic” but really was just a Malibu — and an awful one at that!

roadburner · December 2019

The Greatest Christmas Ballad Ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuMb8-5906k

stickguy · December 2019

I'm still partial to Christmas in Hollis.

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