Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

stickguy · May 2021

unlike many people from my area (NY/NJ) I never took a straight through drive trip to Florida. About the longest was from outside Philly to Columbia SC. That was a pretty good hike. To kitty hawk in the outer banks might have been close.

oldfarmer50 · May 2021

dad23 said:
There's a chance of severe hail here this afternoon. We only have a 3-car garage so the 97 4Runner normally sits outside. I can hear the boys downstairs debating whether to leave it out or put it in the garage and put the 13 Pilot out. Which would likely get totaled quicker if it was bad...

I watch a number of car Youtubers from Kansas and Oklahoma areas and they are always pointing out the hail damage on cars. I guess they don’t rust like up here but get totaled from the hail.

Isn’t there some sort of cushioning blanket you can throw over your cars if you have to leave them outside. Something with some foam backing maybe?

stickguy · May 2021

put some pillows of foam couch cushions under a car cover. Should do the job!

and rust is fatal. Hail is just cosmetic. And if it is something for driving, if I can save a bunch of $ because it has dimples, works for me!

jmonroe1 · May 2021

dad23 said:
There's a chance of severe hail here this afternoon. We only have a 3-car garage so the 97 4Runner normally sits outside. I can hear the boys downstairs debating whether to leave it out or put it in the garage and put the 13 Pilot out. Which would likely get totaled quicker if it was bad...

There’s alway hell in here. Sorry, just noticed you said “hail”. In any case we can talk about that too. Might make more sense than some of the topics we’ve discussed. Dishwashers excluded of course.

jmonroe

Michaell · May 2021

explorerx4 said:
I like to leave early in the morning(3 to 5 am) if I'm going to drive a long distance.
That way when I get there, I don't feel like I missed a day due to driving.

My dad hated long distance driving, but in the summer of 1971 we drove from CA to NY and back. He liked to leave early, as well, then stop around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so we kids could burn off the pent up energy (I was 7, and my sister was 4).

This was done in a ‘67 VW Squareback, mind you.

explorerx4 · May 2021

Have 2 kids. Once we got a 3 row SUV, travelling was great. They each got their own row and could set to up just the way they wanted.
We also had a portable dvd player and they could watch a movie or 2 depending on how long the trip was.

oldfarmer50 · May 2021

stickguy said:
put some pillows of foam couch cushions under a car cover. Should do the job!

and rust is fatal. Hail is just cosmetic. And if it is something for driving, if I can save a bunch of $ because it has dimples, works for me!

You should watch that guy from Auto Auctions Rebuilds. He’s always doing videos on hail damaged cars. I agree, if I was looking for a beater car I wouldn’t care if it had hail as much as rust.

sda · May 2021

Michaell said:

explorerx4 said:
I like to leave early in the morning(3 to 5 am) if I'm going to drive a long distance.
That way when I get there, I don't feel like I missed a day due to driving.
My dad hated long distance driving, but in the summer of 1971 we drove from CA to NY and back. He liked to leave early, as well, then stop around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so we kids could burn off the pent up energy (I was 7, and my sister was 4).

This was done in a ‘67 VW Squareback, mind you.

Cruel and unusual punishment. I bet your ears rang for days. Not a quiet car.

henryn · May 2021

sda said:

Michaell said:

explorerx4 said:
I like to leave early in the morning(3 to 5 am) if I'm going to drive a long distance.
That way when I get there, I don't feel like I missed a day due to driving.
My dad hated long distance driving, but in the summer of 1971 we drove from CA to NY and back. He liked to leave early, as well, then stop around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so we kids could burn off the pent up energy (I was 7, and my sister was 4).

This was done in a ‘67 VW Squareback, mind you.
Cruel and unusual punishment. I bet your ears rang for days. Not a quiet car.

My brother owned one of those (VW Squareback). Offhand, I can't think of a single good thing to say about it. I owned a couple of the original VW Bugs, and they were kind of neat, in their own unique way. Not so the Squareback.

Michaell · May 2021

sda said:

Michaell said:

explorerx4 said:
I like to leave early in the morning(3 to 5 am) if I'm going to drive a long distance.
That way when I get there, I don't feel like I missed a day due to driving.
My dad hated long distance driving, but in the summer of 1971 we drove from CA to NY and back. He liked to leave early, as well, then stop around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so we kids could burn off the pent up energy (I was 7, and my sister was 4).

This was done in a ‘67 VW Squareback, mind you.
Cruel and unusual punishment. I bet your ears rang for days. Not a quiet car.

I was 7; what did I know from noise?
I rode in the back; the rear seat was flipped down, and luggage was on one side of the car; I had a blanket on the other side. I'm pretty sure my sister rode on my mom's lap the entire trip.

I do remember all the cars that were on the side of the road on I-15 going to Las Vegas, that had overheated. The little air cooled engine in the VW just soldiered on.

dad23 · May 2021

Well no hail or rust today, so far anyway. Shortly after I posted that, one of them went over to a friend's house to hang out for the evening. His folks are in Vegas for the weekend, he texted and said the 4Runner is safely sitting in their garage!

driver100 · May 2021

tifighter said:
Well, y'know all of my posts are for you, driver; I should have considered the video length. But to be fair to the guy in the video, he was running out of island to cross. And BTW, traffic actually improves your range in an EV.

I think the test was good up to a point, with a few small questionable things. If I had more time I would watch right through, but I picked the key points by skimming....I have to spend time on my fan mail too you know. But, how does being in traffic improve the range...you have to still cover the miles, you do it at a slower speed, but if traffic has stopped doesn't that work against you?

qbrozen · May 2021

@stickguy said:
unlike many people from my area (NY/NJ) I never took a straight through drive trip to Florida. About the longest was from outside Philly to Columbia SC. That was a pretty good hike. To kitty hawk in the outer banks might have been close.

Out of 3 attempts, I made it once. The time we drove there and back, we hit hours of traffic each way that put a kink in things. On the way down, I made it to Savannah. On the way back, some unknown area in WV. The time I made it was in a rental Durango. We had flown down, rented the car, used it for the week, then drove back to Philly airport and got back in our van and drove home. No bad traffic was the trick.

jmonroe1 · May 2021

My limit is 600 miles in one day.

The distance from my driveway in SC to my mother’s driveway about 10 miles East of the Burgh was 620 miles. That was a little more than 10 hours driving time and 12 hours total road time which included stopping for a meal and a relief stop. Don’t know how many times I did that back in the mid to late 90’s. I don’t think I would try doing that today though.

jmonroe

ronsteve · May 2021

I've done close to 900 miles solo, and over 700 with shared driving, but I was much younger then. Now it's a pretty hard limit of 700 miles, regardless of more comfortable vehicles or sharing the driving. Once we get past 500 miles, especially on return trips, driver changes are more and more frequent.

I'm just too old for that sh*t anymore.

tjc78 · May 2021

I’ve done south Jersey to Charlotte going south and Bangor ME going north. I’ve done Boston and back in one day.

oldfarmer50 · May 2021

driver100 said:

tifighter said:
Well, y'know all of my posts are for you, driver; I should have considered the video length. But to be fair to the guy in the video, he was running out of island to cross. And BTW, traffic actually improves your range in an EV.
I think the test was good up to a point, with a few small questionable things. If I had more time I would watch right through, but I picked the key points by skimming....I have to spend time on my fan mail too you know. But, how does being in traffic improve the range...you have to still cover the miles, you do it at a slower speed, but if traffic has stopped doesn't that work against you?

Regenerative braking puts charge back in.

sda · May 2021

Two trips both about 12 hrs/600 mi. Left after work and drove thru the night and early morning. Knoxville, Tn to New Orleans (Westbank) to visit family friends and attend Mardi Gras. Charlotte, NC to New Iberia, La. Same friends, attend Mardi Gras in Lafayette. Of course no trip was complete without pouring rain, limited visibility, and wipers in mom’s car scrunching and skipping all the way. We had a great time and ate wonderful food.

bwia · May 2021

Can some one explain how Medina Spirit, a horse trained by Bob Baffert, was allowed to run at the Preakness, (and placed third) even though he was disqualified for doping at the Kentucky Derby after his unexpected win. Baffert explained the situation by saying that the horse had tested positive for an anti-inflammatory pain-masking drug and not a performance enhancing drug. Yeah, Right. And would you believe Medina Spirit will also be allowed to run in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 5, the third race of the Triple Crown?

graphicguy · May 2021

One long car trip of note for me. I was in college and we were on summer break. I worked in a Pepsi Cola bottling plant this one summer. We worked a TON of overtime for the madness of selling soda leading up to July 4th. This particular July 4th fell on a Thursday. Somehow, the union had negotiated the Friday after the 4th as part of the long weekend. But, they were scheduling shifts on that following Friday and Saturday. I wasn’t privy to all of what exactly happened, and to work there, you had to belong to the union. I was all of 19, and really didn’t care. But, the union was particularly strong at this bottling plant and the workers were pretty peeved about the forced overtime they had to work over the July 4th long weekend.

They called a wildcat strike the Wednesday before July 4th after my shift (which was about 4:00 p.m.). I just wanted to make money to pay for tuition, but had to go along with them. I had picket line duty immediately after my shift, which lasted until midnight. Depending on how long the strike would go on, I didn’t have picket line duty again well into the end of the following week.

My (then) girlfriend from college moved to Riverside, CA. She was transferring from my alma mater (Miami) to Stanford.

I was going to use the time we were on strike to visit her. Called and told her I was on my way. Outside of that phone call, there was no communications. No cell phones. No texts. No emails. And, to make any calls along the way, i either had to stuff a pay phone with a bunch of quarters, or reverse the charges for the calls to her parents, something she said would not be met with smiles and understanding.

I had a well worn, and ill-running MGB-GT. That wasn’t going to make it. But, one of my college roommates had an older, but in great shape, Ford Torino. I convinced him to go on this little adventure with me, with the promise my girlfriend would “hook him up” with her best friend.

Away we went. We filled up a cooler with sodas and snacks. Aside from bathroom breaks, gas station stops, we drove straight through. One person slept while the other person drove over 2 ½ days. Coming over the Rockies, that Torino, with all the smog controls choking it, bucked and chugged until we got over the other side. Aside from that, it ran great.

Got to the GF’s house, expecting a warm reception, but getting a stern “you ain’t staying here” from her Father. Attempted to sleep in front of her house in the car. That was a no-go, too. Ended up driving to an empty spot in the nearby mountains and sleeping in the car for a couple of days.

GF was not the kind of person who would go up against her Father. And obviously, her Father was not a fan of mine (she didn’t even tell him I was coming).

Against my protestations, my travel companion decided it was time to drive home 2 ½ days back. As they say, it wasn’t the destination but the journey that provided stories, laughs, and hi-jinks along the way that we remember.

Got home only to find out the strike was settled and I had just enough time to wash what was a week’s worth of travel and road dirt off me, sleep a few hours, and go back to work.

Never saw the GF, again. And, my travel companion passed away 2 months ago from COVID!

bwia · May 2021

laurasdada said:
Greetings, all!
For those who purchased new plugins, did you receive the Fed tax credit? If so, did you have to supply any "proof" with your return, e.g. a letter from the manufacturer/dealer certifying your purchase of an eligible vehicle? Looking ahead to my '21 return for the A7 PHEV. I'll research, but I find most of the knowledge of the universe is contained in this (or CCBA) forum...
That is all for now, appreciate any comments on the Fed tax credit for the PHEV.
Hoping that you, and all you hold dear, are happy, healthy and sane.

How to Claim the Credit.
T

The maximum tax credit for the 2021 A7 55 TFSI e Quattro is $6,712. Don't know what it is for Massachusetts but it was $2,500 before the phase-out begins.
Fill out IRS Form 8936, Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8936.pdf
For vehicles acquired for personal use, report the credit from IRS Form 8936 on the appropriate line of your Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
For vehicles purchased in 2010 or later, this credit can be used toward the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
If the qualifying vehicle is purchased for business use, the credit for the business use of an electric vehicle is reported on IRS Form 3800, General Business Credit.

Obviously, you will need the requisite paperwork from the dealer. And if you have already filed your 2020 return, you can always file an amended return to get get the credit. Not sure how this works for used vehicles but the process should be the same.

stickguy · May 2021

I thought at least on the Bolt lease I looked at (well, thought about) last year the dealer had you sign it over so it was rolled into the payment?

imidazol97 · May 2021

Car shows are going on with the weather here being cooperative now. I'm tickled pink
to have so many that are likely to have good classic car turnouts to choose from.
And best of all, the Columbus Oldsmobile chapter has scheduled a show for the fall.

imidazol97 · May 2021

The Fed and Ohio governments will be richer now that I've finalized my income tax forms.
For the first time I submitted my Ohio form on their website. No TurboTax
necessary.

sda · May 2021

@graphicguy, that sounded like a real adventure. Sorry to learn about your friend.

driver100 · May 2021

sda said:
@graphicguy, that sounded like a real adventure. Sorry to learn about your friend.

Yeh, good story GG....the things we did for love!

henryn · May 2021

Back around 1995 or thereabouts, I was in the process of selling off a bunch of old Decstation 3100 computers. These were early RISC based workstations, running a variant of Unix. Chevron, where I worked, had bought a number of them and a few years later declared them surplus. I bought about 20 of them at a very favorable (employee) price, and rented a storage unit to stash them. I sold a few locally (enough to cover my original investment), and advertised them online (early days of the internet).

A college student from the University of North Carolina (a long way from Houston, TX) contacted me about purchasing several, complete with SCSI hard drive and 21 inch monitor. We arranged a deal, and he drove down over the spring break. Turns out he had a girl friend locally that he wanted to see, and he hoped to pay for the trip by making a profit on the computers. He was in an older Honda Accord, and we were able to stuff a surprising number of computers with 21 inch CRT monitors (which are massive) inside that old Accord.

When he went to pay, he was scraping the bottom of his pockets, right down to the pocket change, and he was still short a few dollars. I forgave him the few dollars and asked if he had enough money to get home. He did have a gasoline credit card, and nothing else. I gave him back $20 so he could eat on the way home. Hey, I was once a starving college student myself!

Looking back on it, I hope his girlfriend was more accommodating than @graphicguy’s.

laurasdada · May 2021

bwia said:

laurasdada said:
Greetings, all!
For those who purchased new plugins, did you receive the Fed tax credit? If so, did you have to supply any "proof" with your return, e.g. a letter from the manufacturer/dealer certifying your purchase of an eligible vehicle? Looking ahead to my '21 return for the A7 PHEV. I'll research, but I find most of the knowledge of the universe is contained in this (or CCBA) forum...
That is all for now, appreciate any comments on the Fed tax credit for the PHEV.
Hoping that you, and all you hold dear, are happy, healthy and sane.
How to Claim the Credit.
T
The maximum tax credit for the 2021 A7 55 TFSI e Quattro is $6,712. Don't know what it is for Massachusetts but it was $2,500 before the phase-out begins.
Fill out IRS Form 8936, Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8936.pdf
For vehicles acquired for personal use, report the credit from IRS Form 8936 on the appropriate line of your Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
For vehicles purchased in 2010 or later, this credit can be used toward the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
If the qualifying vehicle is purchased for business use, the credit for the business use of an electric vehicle is reported on IRS Form 3800, General Business Credit.

Obviously, you will need the requisite paperwork from the dealer. And if you have already filed your 2020 return, you can always file an amended return to get get the credit. Not sure how this works for used vehicles but the process should be the same.

Thanks, BWIA. Purchased in '21, so for next year's return time.
Purchase price above the MA max, so no luck there.

laurasdada · May 2021

Spring break, sophomore year. 3 college friends and I drove to FL in my (dad's) Renault LeCar (yes, I was that cool. Yellow, with black racing stripes and a vinyl sunroof). Three of us could drive a stick, and it was Mike's turn to drive. Mike announced we were running low on gas, keep an eye out for stations (we were probably in the Carolina's well into the night). I was in the back seat attempting a nap, when I did notice a tall, electronic sign go by.
"How we doing on gas, Mike?"
"Light's on, LD"
"Did you see that sign, Mike? What did it say?"
"Yeah, it was a thermometer. It's really hot out, 109.9 degrees!"
"Hang a U Mike, hope you have $1.10 for a gallon of gas."
Needless to say, Mike was the least brightest bulb in our low-watt circuit.
We made it. And, had a great time!

coldinohio · May 2021

Drives are interesting
longest solo: in days of 55 mph federal speed limits: 830 - honda civic CVCC
longest oneway-spring break-- also 55 mph limits-- 1400 with 3 drivers-- honda accord LX
now longest is ~650 miles with two drives (and not at 55mph!)

roadburner · May 2021

What seemed like the longest drives(but weren't) were from Fairbanks AK to Coldfoot AK to Deadhorse AK and back the next day during the 2000 ALCAN Rally. We were running in convoy on ice covered roads through the Brooks Range. Unfortunately, our X5 had Scorpion S/T rubber with only 100 studs per tire.
And then there was the Phase One whiteout...

snakeweasel · May 2021

Dropped by my American Legion post and found this outside.

stickguy · May 2021

nice car, but not a fan of that wheel/tire package on it.

qbrozen · May 2021

I like it. I think Cragars can work well on any 50s-60s car.

henryn · May 2021

What is that, a 65 or 66 Malibu? I was never really fond of those, even when they were new on the market. That is a nice looking example, I'll give you that. And those wheels do seem to go with the car.

snakeweasel · May 2021

@henryn said:
What is that, a 65 or 66 Malibu? I was never really fond of those, even when they were new on the market. That is a nice looking example, I'll give you that. And those wheels do seem to go with the car.

Yep it's a 66 Malibu. According to the owner the only bodywork done to it was a new paint job. Interior looked like it was new.

roadburner · May 2021

qbrozen said:
I like it. I think Cragars can work well on any 50s-60s car.

Those aren't Cragars- they are almost certainly American Racing Torq[sic] Thrust wheels:

ronsteve · May 2021

bwia said:
Can some one explain how Medina Spirit, a horse trained by Bob Baffert, was allowed to run at the Preakness, (and placed third) even though he was disqualified for doping at the Kentucky Derby after his unexpected win. Baffert explained the situation by saying that the horse had tested positive for an anti-inflammatory pain-masking drug and not a performance enhancing drug. Yeah, Right. And would you believe Medina Spirit will also be allowed to run in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 5, the third race of the Triple Crown?

Wasn't DQ'd from the Derby. That's still pending the "alternate" sample... can't remember what it's called but in cycling they call it the "B-sample." Only then will the Kentucky Racing Commission actually make a ruling.

Only got cleared to run the Preakness after a clean pre-race test, which is unusual to test before the race. I wonder if he will have to test again before Belmont?

ab348 · May 2021

The explanation of the Derby horse was that some ointment used for a skin or hoof condition had an illegal ingredient. I find it hard to believe that ointment can make much of a difference in a horse's speed.

qbrozen · May 2021

@roadburner said:
Those aren't Cragars- they are almost certainly American Racing Torq[sic] Thrust wheels:

I should have said Cragar-style, but assumed old-school folks would know what I meant.

tjc78 · May 2021

Hmm.. wonder if this is true.

snakeweasel · May 2021

tjc78 said:

Hmm.. wonder if this is true.

Not sure how true it is but there have been many stories of people needing to get new batteries and finding the price of replacing the batteries to be prohibitive. Such stories would defiantly keep me away from EV's as used vehicles.

jmonroe1 · May 2021

ab348 said:
The explanation of the Derby horse was that some ointment used for a skin or hoof condition had an illegal ingredient. I find it hard to believe that ointment can make much of a difference in a horse's speed.

I have to agree with you. If ointment increased your speed, Id lather that stuff all over me and never worry about the Dining Room Table Derby in our house. Probably helps more if you lose the race.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · May 2021

tjc78 said:

Hmm.. wonder if this is true.

I seriously doubt that those batteries are “draining toxins” into the ground. But, if I was an oil company or a gas station owner, I’d say the same thing.

jmonroe

stickguy · May 2021

ICE junkyards are toxic wastelands leaking all kinds of nasty fluids into the ground.

Batteries can be recycled. But I’m no expert on it.

As to the derby, they just said they tested positive for one of the many banned substances, not that it actually helped him win! And in this situation, testing pre and post race makes sense.

stickguy · May 2021

Currently in a zoom waiting room, pending some meeting host judge letting me into the call. At least I didn’t have to train into Camden to sit in a huge room full of odd people and uncomfortable chairs!

stickguy · May 2021

Oh, man those company cars look best up. Can’t French people drive without hitting things?

jmonroe1 · May 2021

stickguy said:
Oh, man those company cars look best up. Can’t French people drive without hitting things?

That’s what happens with a lot of “company” cars. If you don’t own it you don’t take the same care with it like you would if it was yours. Having said that, the company I worked for had a few cars for our site and if you banged it up you BETTER have a good reason for it. I never had a problem but heard what happened when you were responsible for the car. Because of that several folks I knew didn’t even want to use the company car for local trips. Just used their own cars and charged the mileage allowance on their expense report for that month.

jmonroe

stickguy · May 2021

I loved taking my own car when we were allowed to. Make a fortune at the per mile charge. And nicer than the rentals they eventually required us to get instead.

bwia · May 2021

stickguy said:
Oh, man those company cars look best up. Can’t French people drive without hitting things?

Of course they can. These cars were test subjects for the U.S. NHTSA. By the way, NHTSA is hiring as indicated by their website. "NHTSA’s employees work in a variety of occupations—from testing vehicles, keeping car buyers informed and fighting to get vehicles with defects recalled, to working with local police to keep drunk drivers off the road and enforce safety laws. But there’s one thing all of these occupations have in common: at NHTSA our job is saving lives." The salaries are not bad either from $59,342 to $134,423 per year.
Test dummies make extra with generous rehabilitation benefits.

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