Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

oldfarmer50 · February 2022

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

@kyfdx said:

Florida taxes:

Start drawing SSA, and taking RMDs, and no state income tax becomes a bigger issue.

If we had a State income tax here in Florida, say 4% or 5% net after possible deductions, it would mean about an additional expense of $300 a month, which is manageable given current conditions. But if inflation and cost of living continue to increase at 7-8 percent per year, it would put a dent in the way I budget.

If you’re worried about RMD you should go with a Roth. I’m so glad I did.

You still have issues with 401Ks. Roth 401Ks are a recent addition, and not offered at many companies.
Given the higher contribution limits, there is much more money tucked away in 401Ks, than IRAs.

I started putting money in IRAs in the '80s. No Roth then, either. I've been doing conversions, but it's hard to put a dent in it.

Having too much money to readily convert to a Roth is an enviable position to be in. If I can keep working for a few more years I should complete my own.

When I started the 401k at work there wasn’t a Roth option and now I don’t want to take the tax hit. So I guess the kids will have to worry about how to handle things when we’re gone.

In other good news, it’s profit sharing time at the company next week. It’s like waiting for Christmas.

oldfarmer50 · February 2022

stickguy said:
At least they have bumped the RMD age back a few years. I have the same issue with old Money built up and largely missed the window to convert.

But not a bad problem if your worst one is having to figure out what to do with a big RMD. can always buy a Porsche.

When I converted to a Roth I had so little money it was easy. There was also a provision that allowed you to pay the taxes over 4 years.

For my 401k I learned that you can defer the RMD as long as you’re still working. Since most Enterprise drivers retire feet first I should be good.

oldfarmer50 · February 2022

qbrozen said:
Taxes? Oh, man. I was just plugging away at that this weekend. I went through the full range of emotions. Lol. So many limitations. So I pay damned near $20k in property taxes but can only deduct HALF? WTH?! That's some crazy BS. OTOH, evidently my previous years of disallowed losses on the rental property can all now be written off in one lump sum since selling it. So weird. Kind of scary to see this massive return. Makes me think of Sam Malone when he was too scared to mail in the tax return Norm prepared for him because it was a big refund.

Yeah but didn’t Norm turn out to be right in the end?

stickguy · February 2022

if we leave a bunch of taxable IRA money to the kids when we kick the bucket, if they complain about it I will come back and haunt them.

I did tell them both when they started working to dump as much 401k that they could into their account, and just do the roth. So they won't have issues.

the problem is if you maxed out for a while in the 80s/90s when Roth did not exist, and it got to be big enough that you can't do enough conversions to make much of a difference to it. If it is going to push you into the top bracket, might as well just defer it as long as possible! Especially if you are still working so already in a higher bracket.

But, if retiring at 62 makes sense to take a good sized chunk for at least a few years when your other income is low.

graphicguy · February 2022

Love me some Sarah…..she’s rehabbing her late Grandmother’s old Ford Ranger, which is pretty interesting, too.

She’s really proud of that Bronco.

Nu-Finish, Collinte, Ceramics, Zaino, Griots, heck…I even saw a comparo for Turtle Wax Ceramic that indicated it was really good, too.

They are all good. They all shine. The question becomes durability. Given synthetics are….well…synthetic….I think they last longer.

Mike….tell you what…..you pick and buy the wax and supplies. Fly me down there. Buy me dinner, a couple of snifters of bourbon, and put me up in a hotel for a night. I’ll detail your car and do a better, more careful job than any of those other guys. You’ll be able to save a couple of Benjamins in the process.

mjfloyd1 · February 2022

But no warranty and no yearly reapplications..

Sarah has some nice assets but otherwise not so much….

explorerx4 · February 2022

I watched this video a few days ago. Apparently it is getting some attention form the German authorities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pg1hhW5qhM

mjfloyd1 · February 2022

Wow over 259 mph

qbrozen · February 2022

So, why the attention? Was it part of the autobahn that has a speed limit?

sda · February 2022

I just read that GM has closed the order book on the Chevy Malibu for 2022. They were vague whether the Malibu has been discontinued or will be offered for 2023 but it doesn't sound promising. GM has also announced they are discontinuing the Chevy Spark. I guess Chevy will no longer have any sedans. Buick no longer offers sedans. I find it odd that Cadillac will be the last GM division that offers a sedan!

explorerx4 · February 2022

@qbrozen,
I'm guessing it's because the driver isn't German.

I think the fastest one I've seen before that video was about 340 kph.

abacomike · February 2022

I made an appointment to have a detailing shop put a ceramic coating on my G90 on February 25th. He explained the steps:

Acid wash the entire car.

Clean the surface with a clay bar.

Apply a cleaning solvent to remove any dust or residue. The solvent is produced by the same manufacturer as the ceramic coating.

Apply two (2) coats of ceramic coating.

Windows, wheels and chrome/aluminum trim are included in the process.

Warranted for 5 years.

Yearly cleaning and 1 coat of ceramic coating is applied.

Cost is $899.00.

The only reason I am doing this is because my car is parked outdoors 24/7 and not far from some kind of olive tree that emits a reddish brown sap every spring. I always end up having to have the car washed twice a week.

Michaell · February 2022

abacomike said:
I made an appointment to have a detailing shop put a ceramic coating on my G90 on February 25th. He explained the steps:

Acid wash the entire car.

Clean the surface with a clay bar.

Apply a cleaning solvent to remove any dust or residue. The solvent is produced by the same manufacturer as the ceramic coating.

Apply two (2) coats of ceramic coating.

Windows, wheels and chrome/aluminum trim are included in the process.

Warranted for 5 years.

Yearly cleaning and 1 coat of ceramic coating is applied.

Cost is $899.00.

The only reason I am doing this is because my car is parked outdoors 24/7 and not far from some kind of olive tree that emits a reddish brown sap every spring. I always end up having to have the car washed twice a week.

What's covered under the warranty? Do you get a new ceramic coat applied if the first one fails for some reason?

Is there any maintenance you are supposed to do to maintain the warranty?

Seems confusing to me.

abacomike · February 2022

@Michaell said:
What's covered under the warranty? Do you get a new ceramic coat applied if the first one fails for some reason?

Is there any maintenance you are supposed to do to maintain the warranty?

Seems confusing to me.

If the ceramic coating fails (there are 2 coats applied at first), they redo the entire car. It can be checked after a rain - water beads up. If bird turd does not come off with simple water spray, they redo the entire car - same for tree sap.

Yes, you must bring it back once a year to have the car acid washed and another coat of ceramic is applied - $175 is the charge. Included is a complete interior detail.

This process takes two days.

stickguy · February 2022

For that, given what a complete detail to that level can cost, probably not a bad deal. At least the car is going to look good and the paint should be well protected.

british_rover · February 2022

Well off to my second CT insurance license exam. Wish me luck.

dad23 · February 2022

Good luck!

jmonroe1 · February 2022

@abacomike said:
I made an appointment to have a detailing shop put a ceramic coating on my G90 on February 25th. He explained the steps:

Acid wash the entire car.

Clean the surface with a clay bar.

Apply a cleaning solvent to remove any dust or residue. The solvent is produced by the same manufacturer as the ceramic coating.

Apply two (2) coats of ceramic coating.

Windows, wheels and chrome/aluminum trim are included in the process.

Warranted for 5 years.

Yearly cleaning and 1 coat of ceramic coating is applied.

Cost is $899.00.

The only reason I am doing this is because my car is parked outdoors 24/7 and not far from some kind of olive tree that emits a reddish brown sap every spring. I always end up having to have the car washed twice a week.

@graphicguy said he’d do it for less. Here’s my offer, tell me what @graphicguy will charge you and I’ll beat his price by 35 bucks. Either way you gotta provide the bourbon.

jmonroe

andres3 · February 2022

qbrozen said:
So, why the attention? Was it part of the autobahn that has a speed limit?

That Chiron should have exploded into a ball of fire 100X over by the time they reached 400 KM/HR because speed kills.

In fact, for every 5 MPH faster you go over the US speed limit, you have a 10% greater chance of dying, so they should be dead 100 times over before they even reached 400 KPH.

This is an abomination.

jmonroe1 · February 2022

@british_rover said:
Well off to my second CT insurance license exam. Wish me luck.

Of course we wish you luck but if you took our poster buddy @andres3 with you he could point out how you can best screw over the customer and get yourself a better bonus at the end of the year than us just wishing you luck.

Good luck just the same.

jmonroe

andres3 · February 2022

jmonroe1 said:

@british_rover said:

Well off to my second CT insurance license exam. Wish me luck.

Of course we wish you luck but if you took our poster buddy @andres3 with you he could point out how you can best screw over the customer and get yourself a better bonus at the end of the year than us just wishing you luck.

Good luck just the same.

jmonroe

I believe insurance adjuster's should pay it forward instead of trying to get bonuses. Or reallocate their bonus to the customers they fleeced.

qbrozen · February 2022

@andres3 said:
That Chiron should have exploded into a ball of fire 100X over by the time they reached 400 KM/HR because speed kills.

In fact, for every 5 MPH faster you go over the US speed limit, you have a 10% greater chance of dying, so they should be dead 100 times over before they even reached 400 KPH.

This is an abomination.

If it ain’t against the law, it ain’t none of my business.

laurasdada · February 2022

carnaught said:

mjfloyd1 said:

carnaught said:
I thought that the prep for ceramic coating is similar to Zaino - removal of the clear coat. For the price I would also go for frequent waxing/details and forgo the ceramic and pocket the savings. The fact that some dealers utilize it in their “mop ‘n glow” packages dissuades me.
Zaino and any paint coatings that I know of call for polishing the clear coat to remove scratches and swirls before you apply the coating so that the finish looks ideal. I don’t know of any that ask you to remove the clear coat as that would remove a layer of protection.

I’ve seen on various car forums that before applying Zaino for the first time, they use Dawn to wash the car first. That strips the clear coat rather than polishing it, then the Zaino is applied and it becomes the layer of protection.

Any Zaino uses here?

Is ceramic coating the new Mop & Glo?

Former Zaino cult member, but when I lost the ability to hand wash my own car, I ordered Zaino no more...
But, that may change now that I (think, I haven't seen the spigot yet!) can wash.

My '05 TL and '09 XK had multiple coats of Z5/ZFX; Z6 wash, Z7 detail (if I'm remembering my Zaino nomenclature).
I lost the spigot and hose in the divorce.

imidazol97 · February 2022

I always think of Zaino in relation to the title of one of the past forums here:
"Store Bought Waxes Part II (No Zaino Posts)"

It looks like that topic died in 2009

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/comment/652251/#Comment_652251

laurasdada · February 2022

Since Zaino, I've used NuFinish. It does a nice job.

My brother and I inherited our father's IRA in'21; we had to take the RMD that year. Now, 9 years to go to withdraw it, no more RMD. Still enough in the account to scratch several midlife crisis car itches, which likely Dad would have approved!

Here's a tax kick in the teeth: When married, the ex and I each took out large-ish life insurance policies with the kids as beneficiaries. As our son was a minor back then, half the proceeds went to her/me to then distribute to son as we saw prudent.
When she passed away in '20, I got to work on the life insurance for our kids; son now 23. Due to technical difficulties, it took a while to get my half of the claim, which I then sent along to my son. Here's the kicker, interest was paid during that gap time, which I sent to son as a gross amount. But, in my name arrived the 1099-INT, so I've got a four figure interest income addition to my gross. I'm not going to ask son to contribute, although he appears to have retired at age 23.

Oh, well. There goes the Omega Speedmaster or Zenith El Primero I would have wasted that money on anyway!

mjfloyd1 · February 2022

@abacomike - I’ve heard of acid washing wheels but I’ve always been concerned about it. Looks like ok if not machined aluminum wheels and washed off quickly.

https://www.fixarim.com.au/acid-wash-should-you-give-it-a-go/

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of acid washing the paint though. Is anyone here familiar with that?

Well here it is - for major grime and water spots

https://onsitedetail.net/blog/how-acids-can-be-used-in-detailing/

imidazol97 · February 2022

If a little acid is good, more acid should be better.

I get concerned with outfits that mispell words in the titles
of their articles!

imidazol97 · February 2022

Problems today with getting skin wash for wife's upcoming
surgery. Headed out to the nearby pharmacy only to
be tailgated by a lady in an old Plymout Chryslter minivan
who felt I shouldn't have turned out of my road in the 300 feet
in front of her at 35 mph speed limit. She rode my bumper.
If I'd been ready for a new car, I'd have brake-checked her in
front of the cameras at the local city facilities.

Had to wait at the pharmacy for 20 minutes. But they had
what Kroger said would take them 3 days to get!!!

Later saw this doing touch and go landings at the local
runway.

mjfloyd1 · February 2022

Spell check in aisle one - Plymout Chryslter

It happens

tjc78 · February 2022

Great shots of AFO. I saw it fly over I95 a few years ago but couldn’t get a picture.

qbrozen · February 2022

laurasdada said:
Here's the kicker, interest was paid during that gap time, which I sent to son as a gross amount.

I don't think I mentioned this here. Want to hear a real zinger? I got a 1099-INT for the interest the Federal Government paid on my parents' delayed tax refund on their estate. Yeah, the GOVERNMENT paid me interest because they took so incredibly long to send a TAX REFUND and now they want me to pay TAX ON THE TAX REFUND INTEREST. WTH?!

tjc78 · February 2022

That’s so crazy, you couldn’t have made it up.

stickguy · February 2022

I did one estate (my sister) and it was a bit of a hassle but not as bad as I thought it would be. Helped by no real estate to deal with! At some point I get to do it again since I am the executor for my father when the time comes (and he is 93). At least that is already organized so I doubt any big tax worries.

snakeweasel · February 2022

qbrozen said:
So, why the attention? Was it part of the autobahn that has a speed limit?

My understanding that there is a growing concern in Germany that there are more and more people driving at such an excessive speed on the Autobahn and that such an activity is extremely unsafe. There has been some recent talk of introducing a system wide speed limit there but it likely won't gain enough support to go through.

stickguy · February 2022

seems that they could put something in place at say 300km? 250? Something that won't impact 99% of the cars out there, just the really over the top racers.

imidazol97 · February 2022

Speed limit on the autobahn. What is this world coming to?

snakeweasel · February 2022

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:
So, why the attention? Was it part of the autobahn that has a speed limit?
That Chiron should have exploded into a ball of fire 100X over by the time they reached 400 KM/HR because speed kills.

In fact, for every 5 MPH faster you go over the US speed limit, you have a 10% greater chance of dying, so they should be dead 100 times over before they even reached 400 KPH.

This is an abomination.

Yes it is an abomination, I have never seen such a misuse of math.

snakeweasel · February 2022

qbrozen said:

laurasdada said:
Here's the kicker, interest was paid during that gap time, which I sent to son as a gross amount.
I don't think I mentioned this here. Want to hear a real zinger? I got a 1099-INT for the interest the Federal Government paid on my parents' delayed tax refund on their estate. Yeah, the GOVERNMENT paid me interest because they took so incredibly long to send a TAX REFUND and now they want me to pay TAX ON THE TAX REFUND INTEREST. WTH?!

It's really no different than you putting the money in a bank and getting interest on it or investing the money in stock. It's income and therefore taxable.

jmonroe1 · February 2022

@qbrozen said:
I don't think I mentioned this here. Want to hear a real zinger? I got a 1099-INT for the interest the Federal Government paid on my parents' delayed tax refund on their estate. Yeah, the GOVERNMENT paid me interest because they took so incredibly long to send a TAX REFUND and now they want me to pay TAX ON

THE TAX REFUND INTEREST. WTH?!

That’s why you have to cheat when you do your taxes. Especially with the government there is no such thing as a free lunch. The right hand giveth and the left hand taketh away.😫

jmonroe

stickguy · February 2022

can't really cheat when a tax form was filed on it. The computer knows to expect that.

Need to work only in cash.

henryn · February 2022

qbrozen said:

laurasdada said:
Here's the kicker, interest was paid during that gap time, which I sent to son as a gross amount.
I don't think I mentioned this here. Want to hear a real zinger? I got a 1099-INT for the interest the Federal Government paid on my parents' delayed tax refund on their estate. Yeah, the GOVERNMENT paid me interest because they took so incredibly long to send a TAX REFUND and now they want me to pay TAX ON THE TAX REFUND INTEREST. WTH?!

Yeah, I got one of those as well. A whopping $35.66, but there is good news. I'm not going to have to pay taxes on that interest income. My only income in 2021 was Social Security, and about $200 in interest income on various accounts. Before I retired in August of 2020, I had a fair bit of cash accumulated, and I'm still coasting on that. Which means that my adjusted gross income for 2021 is so low that my Social Security is not taxable, therefore I have no taxes to pay. This has never happened before, and will most likely never happen again. I turn 72 this year, so I have to start taking the RMD (Required Minimum Distribution), and this year (2022) I will have to pay taxes.

My cash position last year was also helped quite a bit by selling my 3 year old F150 for a truly ridiculous amount of money. Although I am beginning to wonder if that was the smart play. What if car prices never go back down? Hmmm....

qbrozen · February 2022

@snakeweasel said:
It's really no different than you putting the money in a bank and getting interest on it or investing the money in stock. It's income and therefore taxable.

It is quite different. I gave money to the gov in taxes. They said, “no, no, no, that’s too much. Here is some back along with a little something for your trouble.” And now say, “now WE gave YOU extra, so you gotta give us a little somethin for our trouble.” It is just dumb.

british_rover · February 2022

You need two separate licenses in CT so this was the exam for the second one. Passed no problem.

ronsteve · February 2022

@graphicguy said:
Speaking of wax/shine products, it’s been a very long time since I’ve heard or seen any dealerships pushing “mop and glo” services. Wonder how those vehicles who have those products are holding up? IIRC, some of them promised a life time of shine. Wonder how they look 10 years later?

Come on down to Louisville… one dealer group applies something called Permaplate to everything they sell, for a cool $599. And I forget the name of the stuff that the dealer really wanted to put on my RDX for 895, but that group tries really hard to sell it.

henryn · February 2022

All in all, I’ve had a bit of a rough day. This morning the Cardiologist implanted a monitoring device under the skin of my chest. It will call home and rat me out if I suffer any atrial fibrillation. I had a heart ablation procedure a few months back, which fixed the atrial flutter, but they’re afraid I might develop atrial fibrillation now, so they want to monitor for that.

Then this afternoon I wound up getting 4 stitches in my hand, at the base of my left thumb. I paid a couple of handymen types to fix a leak in the roof of my storage shed, and they were arguing about how much of the radiant shield needed to be cut out and replaced. I climbed up on the ladder to check for myself, and when coming down my foot caught and I fell. I have sworn off ladders before, and I should have remembered that. Next time I’ll just call a professional.

Getting old sucks. 10 years ago, I would have fixed that roof myself, and done a better job, in less time. I guess I’m just going to have to get used to paying someone else to do it. I should be grateful that I have the money to pay the professional.

jmonroe1 · February 2022

@imidazol97 said:
Problems today with getting skin wash for wife's upcoming
surgery. Headed out to the nearby pharmacy only to
be tailgated by a lady in an old Plymout Chryslter minivan
who felt I shouldn't have turned out of my road in the 300 feet
in front of her at 35 mph speed limit. She rode my bumper.
If I'd been ready for a new car, I'd have brake-checked her in
front of the cameras at the local city facilities.

Had to wait at the pharmacy for 20 minutes. But they had
what Kroger said would take them 3 days to get!!!

Later saw this doing touch and go landings at the local
runway.

I think I may have mention this before but since you brought it up, well:

When I was in the Navy (got out in 1963) I was stationed at Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center (known as Pax) which is around 60 miles south of DC in Maryland. Because of the crowded air space in DC, even before Dulles was built, when President Kennedy’s 707 came out of various maintenance checks his plane often used Pax for touch and goes. At the time, Pax had a runway that was even longer than Andrews AFB in DC which is where Air Force One resides.

I’m not positive about this but I seem to remember the main runway at Pax was just under 12K feet. It was not a rarity to see Air Force One using our base for touch and goes and one time I was on a flight coming back to Pax after being gone for a few days and we had to wait to land because Air Force One was doing touch and goes. We had to circle for about a half hour until Air Force One finished their prescribed number of touch and goes. Then we were allowed to land. Believe me, when that plane wants air space it gets it even without the President being aboard. Everyone else just gets in line and waits their turn…PERIOD, NO DISCUSSION.

jmonroe

stickguy · February 2022

I hate ladders too. Anything past a step ladder and I don't want to go up it. The long extension that reaches the 2nd floor gutters I really need to stay off of. One reason that I paid the guys I hired to replace some rotted soffit trim to put gutter guards on that side of the house (so I could skip my annual trip up there to scoop the crap out).

Be glad it wasn't any worse than a few stiches I guess!

jmonroe1 · February 2022

@stickguy said:
can't really cheat when a tax form was filed on it. The computer knows to expect that.

Need to work only in cash.

On that item of course not but there are other areas where you can get creative when doing your taxes. A little bit here and a little bit there and you’ll be where you want to be. You just can’t get greedy and kill the hog all at once.

jmonroe

imidazol97 · February 2022

When I was in the Navy (got out in 1963) I was stationed at Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center (known as Pax) which is around 60 miles south of DC in Maryland. Because of the crowded air space in DC, ...

Interesting.

Wright Patterson AFB has one of two long runways, according to my wife who looked it up to see why AFO might be doing T&G's here. Plus it does not have a lot of traffic most of the time, other than C17s stationed here.

I recall a few years ago and VP Pence was supposed to be doing something in the area. We were headed to lunch and AFO (AFT) was taking off. But instead of doing the usual long sloping climb over the city of Dayton, it did a corkscrew type 180 deg turn while climbing that I couldn't even imagine a 747 could do and headed back almost from the direction of takeoff. It was like they were avoiding some ground threat in a foreign country. Those engines were screaming.

explorerx4 · February 2022

I went to a friend's graduation from the Naval Academy back in the Regan days.
The Commencement speaker was George H. W. Bush.
2 AFO type planes flew over the ceremony.

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