Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

explorerx4 · September 2021

I wouldn't do you like that Benjaminh.

snakeweasel · September 2021

@carnaught said:
Pricing a Prius oil change with full synthetic once Toyota Care expires: with tax just under $150 at the dealer, $100 at JiffyLube with a $10 off coupon. No bargains.

I think the Sonata is around $40 for regular dino squeezing which we change every 6 months or 5 k miles. The Honda gets a $90 oil change every fall. The BMW is $way to much but only needs it once a year.

snakeweasel · September 2021

@oldfarmer50 said:
Huh? Kia didn’t give me squat. I guess that what I get for buying a wanna be Hyundai.

What did you expect from a car company whose name is a military acronym for Killed In Action?

benjaminh · September 2021

Thanks @explorerx4 —that was an interesting test. I esp. liked the view of the Scottish Highlands. There's an early Alfred Hitchcock movie from 1935 called The 39 Steps that has the Scottish Highlands as one of its settings. The full movie is on youtube, and that scene starts at 37 minutes in. It's one of those storylines that often happen in a Hitchcock movie where the wrong man is being chased by the police for a crime he didn't do. The movie even shows an early version of a helicopter, which is clearly a special effects model. Hitchcock's budgets got bigger when he left for America a few years later, starting with the movie Rebecca.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvSZt3cUECE

roadburner · September 2021

"But, the day may come when I just need a car to get groceries and get to doctors appointments.....in that case I may want something that gets me from A to B and needs a minimum amount of maintenance."

That's the day I pull my car into the garage, close the door, and leave the motor running.
Think: Fred Astaire in On the Beach.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

carnaught said:
Pricing a Prius oil change with full synthetic once Toyota Care expires: with tax just under $150 at the dealer, $100 at JiffyLube with a $10 off coupon. No bargains.

I think I pay $70-80 for full synthetic depending on the capacity of the car at my indie garage.

imidazol97 · September 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWxlpH6qtHg

This guy is complaining about his original Cross Climate Plus tires chunking on outside edges. The change in rubber forumulation in Cross Climate 2 likely solved that susceptibility. But this guy most likely accelerates with his front wheels turned at a high angle. The castor of the front wheels causes the tire to lean and rest hard on the outside edge. Accelerating rapidly puts a lot of stress on the rubber blocks there. Video guy kept trying to get Michelin to replace them. Another possibility is that he does a lot of turning the wheels when the car is not moving to give the rubber blocks relief from the tearing motion.

I'd buy the Cross Climate 2 since Michelin seems to have made some changes, improvements, toward the purpose of those winter-rated tires.

roadburner · September 2021

He sounds like a typical know-nothing tool. I suspect he expected more lateral grip from the tires than they are capable of delivering.

bwia · September 2021

The UK has strict emissions and environmental standards and as a result police departments in the UK, have looked to Ford's Mustang Mach-E as a possible solution. Ford, sensing an opportunity, has cooked up this concept based on a Mach-E with the standard range battery pack and all-wheel-drive.

benjaminh · September 2021

roadburner said:
"But, the day may come when I just need a car to get groceries and get to doctors appointments.....in that case I may want something that gets me from A to B and needs a minimum amount of maintenance."

That's the day I pull my car into the garage, close the door, and leave the motor running.
Think: Fred Astaire in On the Beach.

Talk about an obscure film reference! But for those who want to see what's being referenced, you can find Mr. Astaire and his car at 2 hours and 5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HusewgIe_1k

andres3 · September 2021

Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.

benjaminh · September 2021

Not sure what to think about that guy with the earlier version of my tire. The US version is slightly different anyway, and is supposedly designed for longer life because in North America we tend to drive on average considerably more miles than Europeans. Anyway, so far the CC2 tires are great. Significant performance and safety upgrade.

snakeweasel · September 2021

andres3 said:
Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.

I can think of multiple reasons where it wouldn't be.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

benjaminh said:

roadburner said:
"But, the day may come when I just need a car to get groceries and get to doctors appointments.....in that case I may want something that gets me from A to B and needs a minimum amount of maintenance."

That's the day I pull my car into the garage, close the door, and leave the motor running.
Think: Fred Astaire in On the Beach.
Talk about an obscure film reference! But for those who want to see what's being referenced, you can find Mr. Astaire and his car at 2 hours and 5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HusewgIe_1k

On The Beach was one of the first and IMO, best apocalyptic movies made. The part where the sub goes back to America in hopes of finding survivors and finds nothing is very unsettling.

qbrozen · September 2021

@andres3 said:
Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.

I never understood the blanket “no pass on right” rule. I think my driving on the median to get around a left-lane camper would be far more dangerous.

bwia · September 2021

I celebrated my 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday 9/11. I was only 22 when I took that fateful plunge into the unknown. We were as poor as church mice. Except for two witnesses, we had no wedding guests, no happy hour and no honeymoon suite.

Looking back, that had to be the wisest decision I/we ever made and I have no regrets. Today, I cannot imagine the quality of my life without my wife being an integral part of it. She takes care of me and I do the same for her.

sda · September 2021

bwia said:
I celebrated my 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday 9/11. I was only 22 when I took that fateful plunge into the unknown. We were as poor as church mice. Except for two witnesses, we had no wedding guests, no happy hour and no honeymoon suite.

Looking back, that had to be the wisest decision I/we ever made and I have no regrets. Today, I cannot imagine the quality of my life without my wife being an integral part of it. She takes care of me and I do the same for her.

Congratulations, that’s tremendous!

benjaminh · September 2021

Congratulations!

benjaminh · September 2021

For Louisville-area drivers, here are some more entertaining roads that you may already know—Blunk Knob Road and Farnsley Knob Road.

snakeweasel · September 2021

@bwia said:
I celebrated my 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday 9/11. I was only 22 when I took that fateful plunge into the unknown. We were as poor as church mice. Except for two witnesses, we had no wedding guests, no happy hour and no honeymoon suite.

Looking back, that had to be the wisest decision I/we ever made and I have no regrets. Today, I cannot imagine the quality of my life without my wife being an integral part of it. She takes care of me and I do the same for her.

congratulations.

driver100 · September 2021

In heavy traffic you can use all lanes, just keep up and stay with the flow.
Do I need to mention left lane exits and cut offs.

snakeweasel · September 2021

driver100 said:
In heavy traffic you can use all lanes, just keep up and stay with the flow.
Do I need to mention left lane exits and cut offs.

Not to mention that "keep right except to pass" only applies to high speed limited access highways.

imidazol97 · September 2021

driver100 said:
In heavy traffic you can use all lanes, just keep up and stay with the flow.
Do I need to mention left lane exits and cut offs.

I never have understood, driving in this area of the midwest, why on a 3-lane interstate, e.g., the left lane should be kept open with perhaps only 3 or 4 cars in a mile who are traveling at 10 and more over the limit, while the other 2 lanes should have 40-50 cars and trucks in that same 1 mile chunk of road during that same snapshot.

All lanes of the road should be in use to reduce the crowding effect on the right two lanes in my example.

It goes back to ego and attitude, at least in some cases. Let me do some stereotyping.

Through the years, I noticed that back in the turn of the century era (late 199x and early 200x) those who drove a certain German car stereotyped as sporty then felt anyone going slower was inferior and should get our of their left lane so the sport-imaged vehicle could zoom on. Today that vehicle's replacement is the Dodge Charger along with large pickup trucks of various brands. But the drivers of the Chargers today are somewhat more courteous than some of the zoom-zoom German sport vehicle were then. The drivers of the German sport image vehicle of today seem to be a whole different breed of drivers. They are much more like the German brand which has a luxury and premium image.

The German luxury/premium brand drivers have usually tended to consider themselves as people going somewhere. If a car was in their 3rd lane out of 3 and going 8 over the speed limit and if there were room in the 2nd lane to zip around them on the right, the driver times his approach and zoom-zooms around on the right. They didn't tailgate to bully the driver out of the 3rd lane nor did they cut into the 3rd lane close in front of the offending cruiser. They are on down the road at their higher speed actually going somewhere in a hurry being as unintrusive as possible.

mjfloyd1 · September 2021

@snakeweasel said:
I can think of multiple reasons where it wouldn't be.

Left turns are a pretty good reason to be in the left lane.

driver100 · September 2021

Imid, I basically agree, it might be the Autobahn breeding in the cars.

M.J. a very good point!

imidazol97 · September 2021

My examples were for interstates. There are few, very few, left side exits that I can think of. 1 in Cincinnati and 1 in Toledo come to mind on I75.

I drove to a Show and Tell in Cincinnati yesterday on I75, and I was in the right lane or 2nd out of 4 for the whole trip at the posted speed limit, 65 mph. Very comfortable drive other than a couple drivers who wanted to tailgate rather than pass on the left. LOL

A Show and Tell is a car show where they talk about specific cars and interview the driver/owner about the car and its history during the car show over the PA system. I had never been to one before. It was one of the better shows I've seen this year in terms of quality of classic cars that turn out. Few Corvettes. No Lamborghinis, etc.. Just cars with interesting histories. There was a row of Antique Fords, A's, T's, although I have trouble knowing the difference. Several variations of those models which must have been interesting to those who know about them.

benjaminh · September 2021

Sounds like a great car show. Where was it? And how did you find out about it?

snakeweasel · September 2021

imidazol97 said:
My examples were for interstates. There are few, very few, left side exits that I can think of. 1 in Cincinnati and 1 in Toledo come to mind on I75.

I drove to a Show and Tell in Cincinnati yesterday on I75, and I was in the right lane or 2nd out of 4 for the whole trip at the posted speed limit, 65 mph. Very comfortable drive other than a couple drivers who wanted to tailgate rather than pass on the left. LOL

A Show and Tell is a car show where they talk about specific cars and interview the driver/owner about the car and its history during the car show over the PA system. I had never been to one before. It was one of the better shows I've seen this year in terms of quality of classic cars that turn out. Few Corvettes. No Lamborghinis, etc.. Just cars with interesting histories. There was a row of Antique Fords, A's, T's, although I have trouble knowing the difference. Several variations of those models which must have been interesting to those who know about them.

Here in the Chicago area there is a left side exit on I-55 northbound for Joliet Rd. On I-290 there are two just as you leave the city of Chicago proper and those two exits also have left side entrances and those are in both directions. Not to mention multiple places where interstates run concurrently then split off, in many of them you might need to be in the far left lane for at least a short while to make the correct road. Also on I-90 north of the Loop has reversible lanes, you need to be in the left lane to enter those and at the exits from the you will enter the main road in the left lane.

mjfloyd1 · September 2021

Florida turnpike going south with left turn to Orlando.

Also similar split in Chattanooga TN.

tjc78 · September 2021

@bwia
Congrats!!

dad23 · September 2021

Congrats @bwia, that's a great accomplishment!

mjfloyd1 · September 2021

Congratulations @bwia

explorerx4 · September 2021

@bwia,
Congratulations to both you and your wife.

driver100 · September 2021

explorerx4 said:
@bwia,
Congratulations to both you and your wife.

Me too +1 big congratulations from Victoria B.C.

roadburner · September 2021

@bwia said:
I celebrated my 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday 9/11. I was only 22 when I took that fateful plunge into the unknown. We were as poor as church mice. Except for two witnesses, we had no wedding guests, no happy hour and no honeymoon suite.

Looking back, that had to be the wisest decision I/we ever made and I have no regrets. Today, I cannot imagine the quality of my life without my wife being an integral part of it. She takes care of me and I do the same for her.

Congratulations!

abacomike · September 2021

@bwia:

How wonderful bwia! To live with someone for half a century (5 decades or 2-1/2 score as Abe Lincoln might proffer) is truly worth all the congratulatory remarks we posters are sharing with you.

The real wizard here is your adoring wife - she has stayed by her man all these years with love and companionship. Enjoy the remaining years you both will experience! I pray there are many more years of happiness. 🤓

abacomike · September 2021

I decided to drive this past week in “SPORT” mode in the G90. Without going into too much detail, it’s been like driving an S Class Mercedes or a BMW 7 series. The entire ride and performance were exhilarating - stiffer shocks, stiffer steering, increased performance in terms of responsiveness to the accelerator, and even the seat bolsters grab you when shifting into D (drive). Road “feel” changes the entire driving experience.

The only negative is decreased fuel economy. I averaged 17 mpg (15 in city and local driving and 24 mpg on the interstate and Turnpike). Magnificent driving experiences in Sport mode.

bwia · September 2021

abacomike said:
@bwia:

How wonderful bwia! To live with someone for half a century (5 decades or 2-1/2 score as Abe Lincoln might proffer) is truly worth all the congratulatory remarks we posters are sharing with you.

The real wizard here is your adoring wife - she has stayed by her man all these years with love and companionship. Enjoy the remaining years you both will experience! I pray there are many more years of happiness. 🤓

Thank you all for wishing me and my wife a Happy Golden anniversary. Long before the term was popularized we were in a Covenant Marriage --i.e. "when a man and a woman say, 'I do,' they are vowing to each other before God that they will stay together until one of them dies."

According to the Census Bureau, only six percent of married couples make it to their 50th wedding anniversary. To be honest, reaching this milestone was easy if you and your partner love one another and are patient and respectful of each other.

tjc78 · September 2021

@abacomike said:
I decided to drive this past week in “SPORT” mode in the G90. Without going into too much detail, it’s been like driving an S Class Mercedes or a BMW 7 series. The entire ride and performance were exhilarating - stiffer shocks, stiffer steering, increased performance in terms of responsiveness to the accelerator, and even the seat bolsters grab you when shifting into D (drive). Road “feel” changes the entire driving experience.

The only negative is decreased fuel economy. I averaged 17 mpg (15 in city and local driving and 24 mpg on the interstate and Turnpike). Magnificent driving experiences in Sport mode.

I don’t have adjustable suspension, but driving in sport (Dynamic in Volvo terms) really changes up the car.

snakeweasel · September 2021

bwia said:

abacomike said:
@bwia:

How wonderful bwia! To live with someone for half a century (5 decades or 2-1/2 score as Abe Lincoln might proffer) is truly worth all the congratulatory remarks we posters are sharing with you.

The real wizard here is your adoring wife - she has stayed by her man all these years with love and companionship. Enjoy the remaining years you both will experience! I pray there are many more years of happiness. 🤓

Thank you all for wishing me and my wife a Happy Golden anniversary. Long before the term was popularized we were in a Covenant Marriage --i.e. "when a man and a woman say, 'I do,' they are vowing to each other before God that they will stay together until one of them dies."

According to the Census Bureau, only six percent of married couples make it to their 50th wedding anniversary. To be honest, reaching this milestone was easy if you and your partner love one another and are patient and respectful of each other.

Well to be honest the average person will be well into their 70's when they hit the big 50th anniversary. With life expectancy being just over 78 years here and the average age for getting married increasing fewer and fewer people have the chance to hit the 50th. If we make it to our 50th we will be in our upper 80's.

roadburner · September 2021

@abacomike said:
I decided to drive this past week in “SPORT” mode in the G90. Without going into too much detail, it’s been like driving an S Class Mercedes or a BMW 7 series. The entire ride and performance were exhilarating - stiffer shocks, stiffer steering, increased performance in terms of responsiveness to the accelerator, and even the seat bolsters grab you when shifting into D (drive). Road “feel” changes the entire driving experience.

The only negative is decreased fuel economy. I averaged 17 mpg (15 in city and local driving and 24 mpg on the interstate and Turnpike). Magnificent driving experiences in Sport mode.

That’s what I really like about my 2 Series; Sport mode firms up the shock damping and sharpens the throttle response(it also increases steering effort a bit, but does nothing to increase steering feel). Sport+ dials the nannies back considerably which allows a bit of entertaining oversteer as well.
You can also slide the shift lever into the Sport gate to increase the shift points as well as speed up the shifts themselves- or just go to full manual mode.

andres3 · September 2021

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:
Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.
I can think of multiple reasons where it wouldn't be.

I can guess one of your so-called reasons is an upcoming exit on the left, which if were talking Interstates/Freeways (I suppose I should have specified; my apologies on that), is inapplicable in the State of CA for all intents and purposes. They exist, they are just very rare in California.

YMMV in other States.

andres3 · September 2021

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:
In heavy traffic you can use all lanes, just keep up and stay with the flow.
Do I need to mention left lane exits and cut offs.
Not to mention that "keep right except to pass" only applies to high speed limited access highways.

Now you've gone overboard and you are in need of a life preserver. That's not the case in most States. The rule always applies with very limited exceptions, even in "Slower Traffic Keep Right" States.

Limited exceptions include:

1. Left turn imminently ahead.
2. Left exit imminently ahead.
3. Right lane blocked or obstructed.
4. Right shoulder occupied by emergency vehicles.
5. Actively and currently passing someone to the right with a reasonable and prudent speed delta.

Exceptions DO NOT include these commonly cited reasons by LLC's:

1. Heavy traffic.
2. Everyone else in front of me and behind me was doing it too.
3. Pavement smoother on the left, rougher on the right.
4. I was going the speed limit (a few dumb States allow this excuse which is subjective at best because I have yet to meet an LLC that has had their speedometer calibrated even once; let alone recently).
5. The guy behind me is an idiot or maniac.

snakeweasel · September 2021

andres3 said:

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:
Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.
I can think of multiple reasons where it wouldn't be.
I can guess one of your so-called reasons is an upcoming exit on the left, which if were talking Interstates/Freeways (I suppose I should have specified; my apologies on that), is inapplicable in the State of CA for all intents and purposes. They exist, they are just very rare in California.

YMMV in other States.

It is rare just about everywhere, what is more common is when two interstates either merging together or diverging may necessitate a period of time in the left lane. Also IIRC California does not have a keep right except to pass law. I do believe that California has adopted that part of the uniform vehicle code that allows usage of left lanes as long as the vehicle is proceeding at or above the normal rate of speed for that road at that time.

stickguy · September 2021

You obviously aren’t familiar with NE 2 lane highways with lots of trucks. Usually the right lane is do washboarded out a normal car is either crashing into expansion joint cracks, or it’s like riding a roller coaster.

andres3 · September 2021

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:
In heavy traffic you can use all lanes, just keep up and stay with the flow.
Do I need to mention left lane exits and cut offs.
I never have understood, driving in this area of the midwest, why on a 3-lane interstate, e.g., the left lane should be kept open with perhaps only 3 or 4 cars in a mile who are traveling at 10 and more over the limit, while the other 2 lanes should have 40-50 cars and trucks in that same 1 mile chunk of road during that same snapshot.

All lanes of the road should be in use to reduce the crowding effect on the right two lanes in my example.

It goes back to ego and attitude, at least in some cases. Let me do some stereotyping.

Through the years, I noticed that back in the turn of the century era (late 199x and early 200x) those who drove a certain German car stereotyped as sporty then felt anyone going slower was inferior and should get our of their left lane so the sport-imaged vehicle could zoom on. Today that vehicle's replacement is the Dodge Charger along with large pickup trucks of various brands. But the drivers of the Chargers today are somewhat more courteous than some of the zoom-zoom German sport vehicle were then. The drivers of the German sport image vehicle of today seem to be a whole different breed of drivers. They are much more like the German brand which has a luxury and premium image.

The German luxury/premium brand drivers have usually tended to consider themselves as people going somewhere. If a car was in their 3rd lane out of 3 and going 8 over the speed limit and if there were room in the 2nd lane to zip around them on the right, the driver times his approach and zoom-zooms around on the right. They didn't tailgate to bully the driver out of the 3rd lane nor did they cut into the 3rd lane close in front of the offending cruiser. They are on down the road at their higher speed actually going somewhere in a hurry being as unintrusive as possible.

According to some of the Zero Vision claimed "experts" the slower moving crowded two lanes on the right have more efficiency and through-put than the high speed lane on the left. According to them, higher speeds reduce the amount of cars that go through in a certain time period. So if you used the far left lane to go more slowly, it would be more crowded too. Follow?

I can't say I agree with these folks. It's counter intuitive. Traffic flows more like water pressure, greater pressure/speed equals more gallons per minute. The catch of course, is one group assumed someone will muck it up for the rest of us, while the more optimistic group says "why should a driver that mucks it all up be assumed?"

andres3 · September 2021

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:
Getting passed on the right is in poor driving form regardless of the reason.
I can think of multiple reasons where it wouldn't be.
I can guess one of your so-called reasons is an upcoming exit on the left, which if were talking Interstates/Freeways (I suppose I should have specified; my apologies on that), is inapplicable in the State of CA for all intents and purposes. They exist, they are just very rare in California.

YMMV in other States.
It is rare just about everywhere, what is more common is when two interstates either merging together or diverging may necessitate a period of time in the left lane. Also IIRC California does not have a keep right except to pass law. I do believe that California has adopted that part of the uniform vehicle code that allows usage of left lanes as long as the vehicle is proceeding at or above the normal rate of speed for that road at that time.

CA is a "Slower Traffic Keep Right State." The crux of the arguments with people that are not complete imbeciles seems to come down to the definition of "prevailing normal speed of traffic." I look at it as an average. If 100 cars are going exactly 50 MPH, then 1 faster car would mean all 100 cars are slightly below the average or normal speed of traffic and therefore slower. Of course, a scenario where everyone is going the exact same speed is absurd to begin with.

explorerx4 · September 2021

Connecticut highways have plenty of left exits and entrances.

roadburner · September 2021

Driving around I'm consistently amazed at the poor driving position of many drivers. They practically sit under the steering wheel, grasping it at the 11 o' clock position with their right hand- or with a wrist draped over the top of the wheel. And of course I see countless idjits talking on their cell phones in vehicles that I know have Bluetooth- I guess they are too lazy or too dimwitted to learn how to pair them...

imidazol97 · September 2021

I have remembered more left side exits over and above the splits of interstates where one part goes right and one part goes left. The left side ramps are on older interstates. Most redesigned and rebuilt interstates have only right side exits. I think of the rebuild of the old malfunction junction turn on I75 in downtown Dayton where a left lane went off and the other two lanes went right on a curve for I75. It was more fun driving in the middle of 3 lanes with the folks in the left lane speeding and pushing in a medium and higher traffic flow hoping to gain a few feet on the people in the right two lanes.

All of a sudden they found themselves in the left lane which exited instead of passing everyone else in the rightmost two lanes. LOL. I saw more than one shocked driver start to slam on the brakes hoping to merge into right lanes instead of being shunted off toward Wright Patterson AFB and Children's Hospital. They didn't expect a left lane exit. That exit now goes off to the right and underneath the rebuilt interstate.

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