Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

sda · June 2020

For the first time since February I ventured out around 10 am on a beautiful Sunday, 70 degrees, sunny, light breeze and walked 5 car lots, including CarMax, Honda, BMW, VW. So nice to just browse and have no one bothering me. I was struck by the thin inventory, both new and used. CarMax seemed to be 2/3 of what it normally is with many vacant spots. That lot is generally stacked with vehicles. I didn’t see anything that I must have which is just as well. I don’t think I’ve driven 700 total miles in all our vehicles since mid March.

fintail · June 2020

The hood ornament makes a good "sight", if you know what I mean

To me, sport grille = coupe, hood star = sedan, so to mix them makes me feel a little uneasy. But as you mentioned, I might be a bit of a traditionalist, and that doesn't seem to be the group MB is chasing right now. Sport = youth = competing with BMW.

driver100 said:

I like the sports grill....and you are more of a classic guy. The sports grill outsells the classic grill by a wide margin. I wish they would keep the 3 point star on the hood though....I like that.

sda · June 2020

About 3 years ago my Toro was needing major repair so I was in the market for a new mower. I was thinking of another Toro or perhaps a Honda. I needed to run to Sears to get a replacement blade for my electric edger. It had just been announced that location was closing. While I was in the garden section I gave a quick look at the mowers. On the end was a mower that had been returned and was almost half priced. It looked absolutely new, not a scratch, all attachments manuals, etc. For less than $300, I have a black Craftsman 22 inch rear drive mower with a Briggs & Stratton Titanium OHV engine. I did some research on it and it was made by Husqvarna. My only complaint is the deck clogs easily when mulching damp grass. That is a pain because it forces me to stop and turn it on its side to scrape the stuck grass loose. Otherwise it’s been a good mower and a good purchase.

imidazol97 · June 2020

My Toro clogs with moist grass. The bumps on the underside of the housing that make the air mix to ensure the grass blades getting cut up multiple times get packed full. It's the aluminum housing that the real Toros had. Later Toro either started making steel decks on small mowers or someone bought that part of the naming rights.

driver100 · June 2020

fintail said:
The hood ornament makes a good "sight", if you know what I mean

To me, sport grille = coupe, hood star = sedan, so to mix them makes me feel a little uneasy. But as you mentioned, I might be a bit of a traditionalist, and that doesn't seem to be the group MB is chasing right now. Sport = youth = competing with BMW.

driver100 said:

I like the sports grill....and you are more of a classic guy. The sports grill outsells the classic grill by a wide margin. I wish they would keep the 3 point star on the hood though....I like that.

Exactly! Do not forget, the sport grill adds .02 seconds to 0 to 60 too!

xwesx · June 2020

jmonroe1 said:
However, I still don’t know what a cabin air filter looks like with 50K miles on it.

jmonroe

Not pretty... that's all I can say! I change the filters on our cars annually, which means they have somewhere around 15,000 miles on them, and they are straight up nasty. In our Subarus in particular, which don't have any sort of a pre-filter or guard to catch some of the larger stuff, the filters are just full of birch seeds, insects, etc. It actually surprises me that so much air still flows into the cars, but flow is much noticeably better immediately after the change.

driver100 · June 2020

sda said:
My only complaint is the deck clogs easily when mulching damp grass. That is a pain because it forces me to stop and turn it on its side to scrape the stuck grass loose. Otherwise it’s been a good mower and a good purchase.

That is probably why the last guy brought it back.

tjc78 · June 2020

I have a Craftsman made by Husqvarna, great mower. I just changed the self propel belt and it needed new front tires since the gears stripped for the self propel otherwise been going strong for a good number of years.

suydam · June 2020

I didn’t know vehicles are gendered. I’ll have to make sure I only look in my part of the car lot. Seriously, I thought CRVs are generally for families.

xwesx · June 2020

sda said:
About 3 years ago my Toro was needing major repair so I was in the market for a new mower. I was thinking of another Toro or perhaps a Honda. I needed to run to Sears to get a replacement blade for my electric edger. It had just been announced that location was closing. While I was in the garden section I gave a quick look at the mowers. On the end was a mower that had been returned and was almost half priced. It looked absolutely new, not a scratch, all attachments manuals, etc. For less than $300, I have a black Craftsman 22 inch rear drive mower with a Briggs & Stratton Titanium OHV engine. I did some research on it and it was made by Husqvarna. My only complaint is the deck clogs easily when mulching damp grass. That is a pain because it forces me to stop and turn it on its side to scrape the stuck grass loose. Otherwise it’s been a good mower and a good purchase.

I borrowed a Craftsman mower about twenty years ago, and I found it to be the worst mower I ever used for that very reason: The deck design was just awful and it would get grass stuck in there, after which the effectiveness of cutting plummeted. Every time I looked at mowers since then, Craftsman always had the same desk design, so I just never bothered with them.

I much prefer basic, high-wheel push mowers with simple (yet effective) deck design. Price tends to be around $200-250, and they have very little to break on them.

kyfdx · June 2020

Bought my first Honda self-propelled in 1991. My wife made me get a new one in 2016.
It's better than the first one (which someone is probably still using).

1991: everything was extra, including the rear bag. Didn't mulch. $900
2016: everything was included, mulches. $700.

By the time I need another one, I'll probably be paying someone to cut the lawn.

ab348 · June 2020

I seem to recall that back in the '60s/'70s Lawn-Boy was the home lawnmower to have if you had the $$$. I think back then they featured 2-stroke engines and aluminum decks. My dad didn't like them though - he said they were too noisy and hard to start. He ended up with a Jacobsen with an electric starter.

xwesx · June 2020

Ah, here we go... took a picture of the comparison one year with our 2010 Forester's filter:

jipster · June 2020

xwesx said:
Ah, here we go... took a picture of the comparison one year with our 2010 Forester's filter:

Wow. That's the dirtiest filter I ever saw. A high powered leaf blower couldn't get air thru that thing.

jmonroe1 · June 2020

xwesx said:
Ah, here we go... took a picture of the comparison one year with our 2010 Forester's filter:

You otta look into moving to a civilized area.

jmonroe

explorerx4 · June 2020

I still have my Lawn Boy that I bought in 1985.
Years later, i remember seeing a used one for sale at the place I bought mine.
They were asking more than I paid new.
Despite a cast aluminum desk, it is very heavy mower and it just sits in the shed as the backup's backup.

oldfarmer50 · June 2020

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:
Couple of observations. First is this new E-Mustang from Ford. While I‘ll never forgive them for diluting the nameplate I’m hearing a 3.5 sec. 0-60. That’s impressive if true for something that looks like a SUV.

Also, contrary to my assumptions and internet wisdom, I’m hearing that used car prices are rising steeply. This is due, they say, to the coming shortage of new cars because of shutdowns around the world. Dealers are now paying higher prices at auction for used cars. These same sources were saying a few weeks ago that dealers were overflowing with used cars and would be giving them away by now. What gives?
I’m not seeing it just yet. Where did you “hear” such a thing.

The country is re-starting, but it will be a whole new ballgame. Folks still won’t be driving as much, plus you have all the newly unemployed. OTOH, you have those who have been cooped up and maybe looking for a release in the form of a big purchase. I still think any call right now is nothing more than a guess.

One place I “heard” it was here:

https://youtu.be/d2ZTL_idyA8

They could be full of prunes but wasn’t somebody’s sister having problems getting a dealer to discount a used Subie?

On the Mustang electric SUV

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/19/mustang-mach-e-five-things-to-know-about-fords-first-all-electric-suv.html

oldfarmer50 · June 2020

xwesx said:
Ah, here we go... took a picture of the comparison one year with our 2010 Forester's filter:

Lot of dirt roads?

jipster · June 2020

sda said:
For the first time since February I ventured out around 10 am on a beautiful Sunday, 70 degrees, sunny, light breeze and walked 5 car lots, including CarMax, Honda, BMW, VW. So nice to just browse and have no one bothering me. I was struck by the thin inventory, both new and used. CarMax seemed to be 2/3 of what it normally is with many vacant spots. That lot is generally stacked with vehicles. I didn’t see anything that I must have which is just as well. I don’t think I’ve driven 700 total miles in all our vehicles since mid March.

Only 10 new Accords on Honda World's lot. Mostly either the base model LX or the high end 2.0.
Only 1 certified pre-owned Accord. Dealership still offering decent discounts though.

driver100 · June 2020

xwesx said:
Ah, here we go... took a picture of the comparison one year with our 2010 Forester's filter:

One year! You should change that filter every 2 months. Do you live in a coal mine with a forest (all those leaves)?

jwm40517 · June 2020

Borrowed a Honda mower from a friend 20+ years ago. It had a blade clutch that would stop and start the blade while the engine was running. The engine was very quite when the clutch was engaged. Would seem to be safer to stop blade without having to turn the engine off.

Regarding Lawn Boys a late friend and fan of them said, "You either have a Lawn Boy or you need one".

kyfdx · June 2020

jwm40517 said:
Borrowed a Honda mower from a friend 20+ years ago. It had a blade clutch that would stop and start the blade while the engine was running. The engine was very quite when the clutch was engaged. Would seem to be safer to stop blade without having to turn the engine off.

Regarding Lawn Boys a late friend and fan of them said, "You either have a Lawn Boy or you need one".

Blade brake/clutch. It's a great feature, and one of the reasons for a higher price. I can't imagine having a mower without that feature.

oldfarmer50 · June 2020

jipster said:

sda said:
For the first time since February I ventured out around 10 am on a beautiful Sunday, 70 degrees, sunny, light breeze and walked 5 car lots, including CarMax, Honda, BMW, VW. So nice to just browse and have no one bothering me. I was struck by the thin inventory, both new and used. CarMax seemed to be 2/3 of what it normally is with many vacant spots. That lot is generally stacked with vehicles. I didn’t see anything that I must have which is just as well. I don’t think I’ve driven 700 total miles in all our vehicles since mid March.
Only 10 new Accords on Honda World's lot. Mostly either the base model LX or the high end 2.0.
Only 1 certified pre-owned Accord. Dealership still offering decent discounts though.

The Chevy dealer we shopped this week had a full used lot across the street. Their new car show room had just a single 2019 Impala. Maybe they had more in back but I wasn’t looking.

jwm40517 · June 2020

I'm out of touch with lawn mowers, have had a townhouse for just over 20 years. May have mentioned this before, but the first night we spent at the townhouse after a hard week of moving, I was awakened to the sound of a gas weedeater below the bedroom window. I was pissed for a moment until I realized I would not need to run one again.

venture · June 2020

explorerx4 said:
I still have my Lawn Boy that I bought in 1985.
Years later, i remember seeing a used one for sale at the place I bought mine.
They were asking more than I paid new.
Despite a cast aluminum desk, it is very heavy mower and it just sits in the shed as the backup's backup.

I used to have Lawn Boys until they stopped making the 2 cycle engines. Right now I have a Toro with a Honda engine. No complaints.

tjc78 · June 2020

jwm40517 said:
I'm out of touch with lawn mowers, have had a townhouse for just over 20 years. May have mentioned this before, but the first night we spent at the townhouse after a hard week of moving, I was awakened to the sound of a gas weedeater below the bedroom window. I was pissed for a moment until I realized I would not need to run one again.

That’s great, I guess they do snow removal too?

sda · June 2020

kyfdx said:

jwm40517 said:
Borrowed a Honda mower from a friend 20+ years ago. It had a blade clutch that would stop and start the blade while the engine was running. The engine was very quite when the clutch was engaged. Would seem to be safer to stop blade without having to turn the engine off.

Regarding Lawn Boys a late friend and fan of them said, "You either have a Lawn Boy or you need one".
Blade brake/clutch. It's a great feature, and one of the reasons for a higher price. I can't imagine having a mower without that feature.

I had that feature on the Toro and miss it on my current mower. One feature I do like on my Craftsman is a single lever changes the mowing height, no need to do each wheel individually.

imidazol97 · June 2020

My neighbor keeps trying to get me to use his self-propelled 22 inch mower. It has a hose attachment on the deck. You connect a garden hose and turn on the water while running the blade, and voila, everything is cleaned off. No scraping.

My 21 inch Toro with the cast aluminum deck is a push mower. I figured I needed the exercise it offers.

abacomike · June 2020

stickguy said:
Mike, your grandson left the school in Wisconsin? Or Iowa? Whatever cold midwestern state he was in!

He was in Nebraska on a full scholarship where he couldn't handle the cold weather. Remember, he was born and raised in the low desert where it was mild and dry in the winter (60-70) and hot in Spring, Fall and Summer (104-117). So he transferred to a 2-year community college well known for its baseball. He is going to transfer to a CA State University and get his degree and play on their Varsity baseball team as a starting pitcher.

Hopefully he will get drafted in 2022 after graduation.

roadburner · June 2020

xwesx said:

jmonroe1 said:
However, I still don’t know what a cabin air filter looks like with 50K miles on it.

jmonroe
Not pretty... that's all I can say! I change the filters on our cars annually, which means they have somewhere around 15,000 miles on them, and they are straight up nasty. In our Subarus in particular, which don't have any sort of a pre-filter or guard to catch some of the larger stuff, the filters are just full of birch seeds, insects, etc. It actually surprises me that so much air still flows into the cars, but flow is much noticeably better immediately after the change.

Changing the cabin filter in the Mini is a five minute job. When I changed it I estimated it hadn’t been changed for several years, but then the PO paid a shop $35 to change a headlamp bulb- which is a five minute job to do both.

roadburner · June 2020

kyfdx said:

jwm40517 said:
Borrowed a Honda mower from a friend 20+ years ago. It had a blade clutch that would stop and start the blade while the engine was running. The engine was very quite when the clutch was engaged. Would seem to be safer to stop blade without having to turn the engine off.

Regarding Lawn Boys a late friend and fan of them said, "You either have a Lawn Boy or you need one".
Blade brake/clutch. It's a great feature, and one of the reasons for a higher price. I can't imagine having a mower without that feature.

My Cub Cadet ZTR is supposed to turn off the blades when it is reversing. The selling dealer knew I wasn’t happy about it so they “forgot” to hook up the cutout harness before they delivered my mower.

driver100 · June 2020

venture said:

explorerx4 said:
I still have my Lawn Boy that I bought in 1985.
Years later, i remember seeing a used one for sale at the place I bought mine.
They were asking more than I paid new.
Despite a cast aluminum desk, it is very heavy mower and it just sits in the shed as the backup's backup.
I used to have Lawn Boys until they stopped making the 2 cycle engines. Right now I have a Toro with a Honda engine. No complaints.

I got no complaints....I let "The Guy" cut it.

cdnpinhead · June 2020

Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?

jmonroe1 · June 2020

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?

A grapenut.

jmonroe

cdnpinhead · June 2020

"He was in Nebraska on a full scholarship where he couldn't handle the cold weather. Hopefully he will get drafted in 2022 after graduation.

Thanks for the update. We heard a lot about him. . . and then radio silence.

driver100 · June 2020

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?

Can't say as I have ever had the urge to peal my grapes.

Do you not like eating the skin part?

driver100 · June 2020

jmonroe1 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
A grapenut.

jmonroe

I still say this is an impostor...he has got much too witty lately

driver100 · June 2020

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?

I sometimes buy seedless, skinless grapes....it is called wine

imidazol97 · June 2020

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
Can't say as I have ever had the urge to peal my grapes.
Do you not like eating the skin part?

Grapes are too soft to have much of a peal. Maybe if they're frozen they might peal when you hit them:
a bell sound.

jmonroe1 · June 2020

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
Can't say as I have ever had the urge to peal my grapes.
Do you not like eating the skin part?
Grapes are too soft to have much of a peal. Maybe if they're frozen they might peal when you hit them:
a bell sound.

WHOA, Mrs. j thinks grapes have a lot of appeal...eats them all the time. Green ones are here favorite.

jmonroe

imidazol97 · June 2020

All this punning is making me feel punny, I mean funny.

tjc78 · June 2020

30 posts about grapes.... we *may* have hit rock bottom.

jmonroe1 · June 2020

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
A grapenut.

jmonroe

I still say this is an impostor...he has got much too witty lately

My cousin does some of my writing now.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · June 2020

tjc78 said:
30 posts about grapes.... we *may* have hit rock bottom.

Join in and take a test drive.

jmonroe

ab348 · June 2020

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
A grapenut.

jmonroe

I still say this is an impostor...he has got much too witty lately
My cousin does some of my writing now.

jmonroe

I thought driver was implying that the original @jmonroe was a half-wit compared to the new and improved variety :laughing: .

jmonroe1 · June 2020

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
A grapenut.

jmonroe

I still say this is an impostor...he has got much too witty lately
My cousin does some of my writing now.

jmonroe

I thought driver was implying that the original @jmonroe was a half-wit compared to the new and improved variety :laughing: .

:@ :@

jmonroe

tjc78 · June 2020

Well the original Jmonroe had a car with a nice classy burgundy color... this new impostor has some grey color wannabe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tjc78 · June 2020

Circling back to grapes... wasn't that color Cabernet Red Pearl?

driver100 · June 2020

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

cdnpinhead said:
Of course. Who do you have peel your grapes?
A grapenut.

jmonroe

I still say this is an impostor...he has got much too witty lately
My cousin does some of my writing now.

jmonroe

I thought so

driver100 · June 2020

tjc78 said:
30 posts about grapes.... we *may* have hit rock bottom.

i didn't start it....I only replied.....that makes 31 and an extra post for me

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