Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stickguy · July 2023

My son bought a house at about age 29 to get out of renting. But he had a good high tech job, but mostly the advantage of living in a cheaper area.

My daughter and her BF live in Boston, and comparable house would be at least 3x the price. A 1200 sf townhouse in Southie is $800k+.

driver100 · July 2023

pensfan83 said:

driver100 said:

28firefighter said:

driver100 said:
@oldfarmer50 I'm like you, I like to pay off loans asap. I hate to pay interest, and I think being disciplined about spending is good for me.
I don't think many young people think that way.
I think this is a common misconception that passes unfair judgment on a generation that came up at a time where salaries have not kept up with inflation, cost of living is at an all time high, and educational costs are dramatically higher than ever leading to astonishing amounts of student debt.

It's wonderful that many of us here are financially capable of making choices to not use or carry loans. However, having debt does not make someone financially irresponsible alone and I'd strongly recommend not passing judgment in broad strokes.
I'll stand by what I said. Of course you have to borrow money to buy a house or to buy a car, you may even have to buy a TV set on payments if you don't have the money saved. But, there is too much buying on credit, and people getting into trouble. They buy a car or a house based on the monthly payments, not realizing that interest rates can change or the item has other costs associated with it.
A niece just got married, it was nice that they saved to buy a house, they wanted and bought all new furniture and appliances and they are stretched to the limit financially.
Too many people go to university and rack up a big bill, and they take courses that don't lead to a job that will pay back the money spent. I am surprised so many agree with you that debt is fine. Debt is necessary, but my rule would be to try and keep debt as low as possible.

When we started our business we had a line of credit. We were making good money after a few years, but we plowed it back into the business, spent carefully, and always paid suppliers on delivery, not in 30 days, not 60 days, basically C.O.D. Suppliers loved us, when they had good product they came to us first....where else would they get C.O.D.? Our lawyer told us we must be crazy to pay suppliers immediately...no one does that!

When interest rates went sky high our competitors had to cover interest payments by raising prices, we didn't owe money so we didn't have to raise our prices.

Debt is a necessity if used wisely. It can become a noose if not used carefully.
The point he was making is that for some individuals debt is an unwanted, yet unfortunate requisite in today's society because sometimes there are circumstances not within their control that mandate carrying a debt load. Those individuals should not be looked down upon or otherwise judged because they choose to carry said debt and others choose to live debt free.

I am in no position to look down on anyone....I have been in that situation for most of my life. I lost 3 jobs in 4 years, in 2000 we were living on my wife's earnings of $30000 a year. We did take a risk starting a business....it could have failed just as easily as succeeded. These days, you can be employed for 30 years, lose your job and find it hard to get another job at age 50+....sometimes it is a thin line. Apparently a lot of homeless people living in tents in our city are those people......that could have been me.
I'm not talking down about anyone, I am saying that some people think that if you want something you should buy it on credit, rack up $25000 on your credit card, pay off the minimum amount monthly....and get deeper into debt.

We are going out to dinner tonight with two friends who are both in wheelchairs. They have a home here and a place in Florida. He became an insurance agent with his own office, she became a doctor for disabled people. They drive or fly to Florida, they never complain, they raised two children that they adopted.....they never complain about what life has dealt them. They are always positive and active. They are an inspiration to me. Sure life is hard, maybe harder than during our generation.....but a lot of people find ways to cope and doing well, but not too many do it by racking up debt unnecessarily.

venture · July 2023

The Ascent will be due for the annual PA state safety inspection soon. Along with that they also do an emissions test. In our county is just a gas cap test and visual inspection. It takes about 45 seconds.

If you have driven less than 5,000 miles since the last inspection, you can request an exemption. I asked my Subaru dealer, the last time, how much that would cost. The normal test is $48. He mumbled something about the same amount of work, or something. I couldn't understand what he said.

I called the Honda dealer and asked if they issued the exemption sticker and they said they do. It costs $17.

I was driving past the Subaru place, so I stopped in and asked again. The guy said it costs the same, $48. I said that they don't have to do anything but put a sticker on the window. He just put his arms out like "I don't know".

A lot of times you hear how a dealer likes an informed buyer. I don't think that's true.

andres3 · July 2023

I've never liked the "subscription" model for services. A lot of money goes down the tube I'm sure from that. OF course, those clinging to cable or satellite service are paying big too.

qbrozen · July 2023

guess i'm not cancelling TV.
Finally called them today. You know how it goes. After he got done playing in the system, he said I could keep TV and internet for $150 or I could go to just internet for $149. lol. For $1, I'll keep the wife at bay for another year.

ab348 · July 2023

That sounds like mighty expensive internet, qb.

One thing about my big cable switcheroo last week was that I finally got rid of my landline. In the setup I have now it actually saved me $10/mo. It finally occurred to me the other day that all those handsets were just taking up space, so I disconnected all of them. Anyone want a box of 5 phone handsets? 😀

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@venture said:
The Ascent will be due for the annual PA state safety inspection soon. Along with that they also do an emissions test. In our county is just a gas cap test and visual inspection. It takes about 45 seconds.

If you have driven less than 5,000 miles since the last inspection, you can request an exemption. I asked my Subaru dealer, the last time, how much that would cost. The normal test is $48. He mumbled something about the same amount of work, or something. I couldn't understand what he said.

I called the Honda dealer and asked if they issued the exemption sticker and they said they do. It costs $17.

I was driving past the Subaru place, so I stopped in and asked again. The guy said it costs the same, $48. I said that they don't have to do anything but put a sticker on the window. He just put his arms out like "I don't know".

A lot of times you hear how a dealer likes an informed buyer. I don't think that's true.

————————————————
I don’t know who started that talk about dealers liking an informed buyer but they’re probably related to the folks who believe you can have a fox guarding the chicken coop.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@ab348 said:
That sounds like mighty expensive internet, qb.

One thing about my big cable switcheroo last week was that I finally got rid of my landline. In the setup I have now it actually saved me $10/mo. It finally occurred to me the other day that all those handsets were just taking up space, so I disconnected all of them. Anyone want a box of 5 phone handsets? 😀

————————————————
Send them to the folks who will rack up debt buying them.

jmonroe

stickguy · July 2023

we had the cable bundle at the old house. that came with internet landline phone, and was our old phone number we had for decades. when we moved, discovered that they could not transfer to a different area. Seemed odd, but we just let it expire. pretty much was just spam calls anyway by then.

had no intention of getting it here, but once again it was cheaper to get the package deal, so we have a new phone number that I don't even remember and have never given out. Yet we still get a call every week or so that the cable company flags as "spam risk"

stickguy · July 2023

had my first full electric experience today. Mowed the lawn entirely with the Ego. battery sized just right for my ~1/4 acre lot. Was just blinking low as I finished. Grass was overly long and I made the mistake of dropping the deck 1 notch so it worked hard. Nice and easy to push, and of course, no messing with gas cans and it was a whole lot quieter.'

only issue was that it was not very good at mulching, so I ended up having to rake. if it does that again next time I mow I will start using the bagging attachment. But overall, a positive experience.

venture · July 2023

The guy who sits on the other end of our row at baseball got hit in the face with a foul ball on the 4th. He was at the game tonight and his face is a mess. All bandaged, a broken nose, and bruised from his hair line to his upper lip. He said at least it didn't hit him in the mouth. A Pollyanna.

I wanted to take a catcher's mask to the game tonight to give to him; figuring he would be there. Mrs. venture didn't think it was appropriate.

ab348 · July 2023

stickguy said:

only issue was that it was not very good at mulching, so I ended up having to rake. if it does that again next time I mow I will start using the bagging attachment. But overall, a positive experience.

Up here in the People’s Republic of Halifax the city will not accept grass clippings in their organic pickups so they are a pain to deal with. I also find using the bag attachment makes it much more of a chore. The last time I mowed and had your situation I got out the leaf blower and just blasted it all away, to the curb in some situations, or just scattered over a large area of lawn. So far they haven’t banned that.

stickguy · July 2023

I never used a bag. they are bulky and annoying IMO. I just mulch and if there are little pockets of heavy clippings I rake them. It was way too hot today (probably not the smartest idea for a 60+ YO dude to be out in the sun when it was 90 and very humid to be out mowing and raking, but as I told the wife, I didn't drop dead or get heatstroke so consider it a win!) to be raking the entire yard! Next time I will see how the bag works.

I don't have a blower. Don't believe in them!

laurasdada · July 2023

Back when I was a proud single-family homeowner, I started out bagging. Wanted the spotless lawn. That didn't last long as I had to empty the bag seemingly every 10 minutes. So, I decided to let Ma Nature do her thing.
The lawn, and I, lived to tell the story.

stickguy · July 2023

mulch and leaving the clippings is actually better for the lawn. I only rake when it is big piles that will mat down and kill the grass. small stuff stays.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

stickguy said:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/23-Legends-Way_Ballston-Lake_NY_12019_M47164-40733

That’s a nice development built relatively recently. Some of the kids who live there are kind of snotty. I know because I used to drive a route in that neighborhood.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

Sandman6472 said:
Only financed once back in 1981 & paid off after we got home from our honeymoon. Wife told me flat out, "we don't finance" and besides the condo & eventual house, we've always paid cash or we didn't buy. For my next vehicle though, will finance a part of it so hope they have 0% financing. Don't want to sell any assets to pay for a new vehicle since I can use the dividends/work income to pay the loan down. A smarter way to do things at this stage of life.

After your life of hard work you deserve to treat yourself. That’s the way I felt when I got my dream car. Your salary at Enterprise is probably good for a $800-1000 monthly payment. You can get a lot of car for that money.

That is, unless like me, you plan on taking it all with you in a U Haul towed by the hearse. 🙄

BTW, I’ve noticed that a lot of the people I’ve worked with lately are former postal workers. I wonder what’s the attraction?

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

Sandman6472 said:
Beautiful home but isn't it a bit large for only two of you? Looks to be almost 2400 square feet I'd bet which is a really nice size...for a family of four or five I'd guess. But, since y'all think you're current home just isn't large enough, makes sense especially if it could be done with no mortgage. Personally, once retired, best to no longer have a mortgage as it's usually a big chunk of the monthly budget...we just chose to pay it off as early as we could so we could put those extra funds away for retirement. That "living below ones means" philosophy that I was brought up with tends to stick with ya after so many years.
Not really familiar with that part of New York as we lived about 32 miles north those years we did live there. Got as far north as Wappingers Falls as I recall as a kid so not really familiar with your location. But it's in snow country so guessing y'all get your fair share of the white stuff.

Wappingers Falls is about 100 miles south of where Stickguy is located.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

only issue was that it was not very good at mulching, so I ended up having to rake. if it does that again next time I mow I will start using the bagging attachment. But overall, a positive experience.
Up here in the People’s Republic of Halifax the city will not accept grass clippings in their organic pickups so they are a pain to deal with. I also find using the bag attachment makes it much more of a chore. The last time I mowed and had your situation I got out the leaf blower and just blasted it all away, to the curb in some situations, or just scattered over a large area of lawn. So far they haven’t banned that.

Get a mulching blade or just leave the clippings to fertilize the lawn. I don’t bag clippings for all the acreage I mow but my neighbor does. I can’t imagine how tedious it is for him to empty that bag over and over.

imidazol97 · July 2023

My Toro has bumps on the top of the housing along with the wing shape
on the blade and the secondary blade which helps lift the clippings to be hit again
by the blade. All that increases drag on the blade and requires more power.

I noticed that my son's EGO mower didn't seem to be a mulcher.

qbrozen · July 2023

@ab348 said:
That sounds like mighty expensive internet, qb.

Agreed. Unfortunately, they have a monopoly in my area and we have to pay whatever they want.

laurasdada · July 2023

I had a mulching mower.
I hated mowing but loved having mowed.

andres3 · July 2023

qbrozen said:

@ab348 said:

That sounds like mighty expensive internet, qb.

Agreed. Unfortunately, they have a monopoly in my area and we have to pay whatever they want.

Don't tell them that, they'll raise it even more.

tjc78 · July 2023

The entire model for streaming, cable, internet etc is pretty out of control.

I can’t believe how expensive it can get. Lots of free “TV” options out there, but then you still need internet. It want “fast” internet you are spending at least $100 a month. I think our gigabit at home is $125 by itself.

28firefighter · July 2023

We cut cable a while back. I pay $80/month including taxes and fees for a 1 Gig Up/1 Gig Down fiber connection. It used to be Verizon FiOS, then Frontier FiOS, and now it's some no name because Frontier spun it off. Not a special, either - I've been paying this rate for 4 years without an increase, which seems crazy.

snakeweasel · July 2023

oldfarmer50 said:

That is, unless like me, you plan on taking it all with you in a U Haul towed by the hearse. 🙄

Didn't King Tut take it all with him? Not only that didn't he take a world tour with all his stuff afterwards?

ab348 · July 2023

oldfarmer50 said:

Get a mulching blade or just leave the clippings to fertilize the lawn. I don’t bag clippings for all the acreage I mow but my neighbor does. I can’t imagine how tedious it is for him to empty that bag over and over.

It is a mulching mower. The problem is that if the grass gets more than a couple of inches above the mowing height the mower can’t process it and so it bogs down and leaves large globs of wet clippings that just lay on top of the lawn. If not removed they kill the grass below so you have to get them out of there. When it’s been raining for 10 days like it has been here you can’t mulch grass that long.

driver100 · July 2023

So, here I am in the lounge area of my MB dealer waiting for my auxiliary battery to be replaced. I hate to tell you what this is costing, but I had an incredibly good free coffee, and a delicious chicken and barley soup that cost $3.75.....and I'll probably get a really nice car wash for my $600!

venture · July 2023

driver100 said:
So, here I am in the lounge area of my MB dealer waiting for my auxiliary battery to be replaced. I hate to tell you what this is costing, but I had an incredibly good free coffee, and a delicious chicken and barley soup that cost $3.75.....and I'll probably get a really nice car wash for my $600!

How much was the napkin?

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

driver100 said:
So, here I am in the lounge area of my MB dealer waiting for my auxiliary battery to be replaced. I hate to tell you what this is costing, but I had an incredibly good free coffee, and a delicious chicken and barley soup that cost $3.75.....and I'll probably get a really nice car wash for my $600!

600 bucks for a bowl of soup and a car wash? You rich guys know how to live.

driver100 · July 2023

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:
So, here I am in the lounge area of my MB dealer waiting for my auxiliary battery to be replaced. I hate to tell you what this is costing, but I had an incredibly good free coffee, and a delicious chicken and barley soup that cost $3.75.....and I'll probably get a really nice car wash for my $600!

600 bucks for a bowl of soup and a car wash? You rich guys know how to live.

....but, it is on a silver tray!

andres3 · July 2023

Dealerships have a lot of gall to charge astronomical prices.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

venture said:

driver100 said:
So, here I am in the lounge area of my MB dealer waiting for my auxiliary battery to be replaced. I hate to tell you what this is costing, but I had an incredibly good free coffee, and a delicious chicken and barley soup that cost $3.75.....and I'll probably get a really nice car wash for my $600!

How much was the napkin?

————————————————
For 6 bills he should have had a juicy rib eye with a cloth napkin.

Don’t rub it in.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · July 2023

andres3 said:
Dealerships have a lot of gall to charge astronomical prices.

————————————————
You can always be your own guy for the little stuff like a battery replacement. But then you’d need the gall to do it without the fear of electrocution.

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2023

jmonroe1 said:

andres3 said:
Dealerships have a lot of gall to charge astronomical prices.
————————————————
You can always be your own guy for the little stuff like a battery replacement. But then you’d need the gall to do it without the fear of electrocution.

jmonroe

Yeh, or as Youtube warns you, if you lose power to the wrong things you could have to reset all your codes again which could cost $1000s.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

andres3 said:
Dealerships have a lot of gall to charge astronomical prices.
————————————————
You can always be your own guy for the little stuff like a battery replacement. But then you’d need the gall to do it without the fear of electrocution.

jmonroe
Yeh, or as Youtube warns you, if you lose power to the wrong things you could have to reset all your codes again which could cost $1000s.

————————————————
If I was a dealer that installed batteries I’d say the same thing and I’d say it loud enough to make sure I scared owners so they would have my place install the battery.

jmonroe

imidazol97 · July 2023

I believe my secondary battery on my Malibu was about $70 at Oreillyauto (Checkers). I installed it myself when I had Walmart replace the under-the-hood battery that only some Walmarts carried at the time. The key was I removed the ground from the main battery before doing anything with the ground and positive terminal on the trunk battery.

Both are AGM batteries. But I guess my replacement doesn't speak Deutsch so it was a lot cheaper.

BTW replacement of the trunk batteryt took 10 minutes including disconnecting the main battery from the circuits. So my labor was about $10?

jmonroe1 · July 2023

imidazol97 said:
I believe my secondary battery on my Malibu was about $70 at Oreillyauto (Checkers). I installed it myself when I had Walmart replace the under-the-hood battery that only some Walmarts carried at the time. The key was I removed the ground from the main battery before doing anything with the ground and positive terminal on the trunk battery.

Both are AGM batteries. But I guess my replacement doesn't speak Deutsch so it was a lot cheaper.

BTW replacement of the trunk batteryt took 10 minutes including disconnecting the main battery from the circuits. So my labor was about $10?

————————————————
Why weren’t you afraid to tackle that horrendously challenging job? You could have screwed up something…then what would you have done?

jmonroe

stickguy · July 2023

I don't think my Acura has a secondary battery. Or if it does I never saw any mention of it.

The Maverick of course has 2 being a hybrid!

interesting design though. The 12v is small because it does not start the car. All that has to handle is waking up the circuits and relays to tell the high voltage hybrid that it is time to fire up the engine. that handles all the stopping and starting.

driver100 · July 2023

imidazol97 said:
I believe my secondary battery on my Malibu was about $70 at Oreillyauto (Checkers). I installed it myself when I had Walmart replace the under-the-hood battery that only some Walmarts carried at the time. The key was I removed the ground from the main battery before doing anything with the ground and positive terminal on the trunk battery.

Both are AGM batteries. But I guess my replacement doesn't speak Deutsch so it was a lot cheaper.

BTW replacement of the trunk batteryt took 10 minutes including disconnecting the main battery from the circuits. So my labor was about $10?

I was at the dealers for 3 hours....of course they did the diagnostic tests which took about an hour.....I told them it was the battery, if they go after 5 years maximum and mine is 6 years old...then it has to be the battery. Abd probably 20 minutes was for the car wash.

The battery alone was about $300, the labor almost $300. And, don't forget, the OFF/ON has probably saved me $10 in gas at the most.

driver100 · July 2023

stickguy said:
I don't think my Acura has a secondary battery. Or if it does I never saw any mention of it.

The Maverick of course has 2 being a hybrid!

interesting design though. The 12v is small because it does not start the car. All that has to handle is waking up the circuits and relays to tell the high voltage hybrid that it is time to fire up the engine. that handles all the stopping and starting.

Wait until something breaks down and doesn't work properly....and they have to figure out what is wrong!

roadburner · July 2023

At least my M-B dealer is quick and competent; the battery replacement in my C43 took less than an hour. When I had a flat and had it delivered to the dealer the service department opened at 7:30 am; at 7:27 am my service advisor had texted me to let me know that they were checking the RF tire issue. I texted back that I would like to go ahead and have the Service A performed. He said that was no problem.. At 9:00 am he advised that the tire had a hole in the sidewall and that the rear brake pads were close to the minimums; I authorized replacing them. At 11:18 am the car was washed and ready to be picked up.
Overall it was a very impressive experience.

stickguy · July 2023

last battery I had changed was in our 2013 RDX. the teenaged looking girl at Batteries Plus had it done in about 10 minutes.

roadburner · July 2023

I only had my dealer change the battery because it was under warranty; otherwise it's strictly a DIY procedure.

stickguy · July 2023

don't they still need the programming tricks done?

apparently the Maverick (probably all the Fords but I only follow that forum!) needs a battery reset but it is some simple procedure (turn the key on an off 4 times quick, push some button twice, and wink your left eye, something like that) to tell the BMS there is a new battery in there. Oh, then you have to lock the car and let it sit overnight and should be good to go.

driver100 · July 2023

roadburner said:
At least my M-B dealer is quick and competent; the battery replacement in my C43 took less than an hour. When I had a flat and had it delivered to the dealer the service department opened at 7:30 am; at 7:27 am my service advisor had texted me to let me know that they were checking the RF tire issue. I texted back that I would like to go ahead and have the Service A performed. He said that was no problem.. At 9:00 am he advised that the tire had a hole in the sidewall and that the rear brake pads were close to the minimums; I authorized replacing them. At 11:18 am the car was washed and ready to be picked up.
Overall it was a very impressive experience.

But do they have free gourmet fresh roasted coffee and home made chicken and barley soup?

imidazol97 · July 2023

stickguy said:
don't they still need the programming tricks done?

apparently the Maverick (probably all the Fords but I only follow that forum!) needs a battery reset but it is some simple procedure (turn the key on an off 4 times quick, push some button twice, and wink your left eye, something like that) to tell the BMS there is a new battery in there. Oh, then you have to lock the car and let it sit overnight and should be good to go.

How does the car know if you winked your left eye?

imidazol97 · July 2023

driver100 said:

I was at the dealers for 3 hours....of course they did the diagnostic tests which took about an hour.....I told them it was the battery, if they go after 5 years maximum and mine is 6 years old...then it has to be the battery. Abd probably 20 minutes was for the car wash.

The battery alone was about $300, the labor almost $300. And, don't forget, the OFF/ON has probably saved me $10 in gas at the most.

My batteries were 7.5 years old IIRC. That's the GM Mark of Excellence shining through for my batteries. I replaced the main battery before it gave trouble (I have a battery life tester and it was below some 60% or 50% that made me decide it was time).

Did you have to pay for the chicken barley soup?

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

stickguy said:
last battery I had changed was in our 2013 RDX. the teenaged looking girl at Batteries Plus had it done in about 10 minutes.

Wow, taking it to “the guy” is shameful enough but you took it to “the girl”? Oh man.😫

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

roadburner said:
I only had my dealer change the battery because it was under warranty; otherwise it's strictly a DIY procedure.

I had the dealer change my battery because it was in for a recall repair and an oil change to begin with….and because I’m lazy.

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