Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

explorerx4 · November 20

I was happy to get this coupon from the dealer although the recall vehicle referenced is one I haven't owned in almost 13 years.
The back of the card is pretty concerning too.
Just seems a bit weird to get this from the dealer.

corvette · November 20

My cynical translation: In the last few years, Ford has recalled several million vehicles. Maybe don't buy one!

jmonroe1 · November 20

@breld said:
I had a call with BMW of North America as a follow up to my experience with my i5 and I expressed how I do like the vehicle, but was naturally disappointed that it required such a major repair for the HVAC system that kept it in the shop for 21 days.

I didn't request any follow up, but they called me today to say they had good news and that they were offering me $475 for the trouble.

There is a release required to be signed and notarized to receive the payment that includes the following:

...hereby releases and forever discharges BMW of North America, LLC
(“BMW NA”) and its respective parents, subsidiaries, agents, brokers, insurers, trustees,
beneficiaries, administrators, successors in interest, predecessors in interest, assigns,
corporations, partners, entities, affiliates, all authorized dealerships, and all directors,
officers, employees, attorneys, and representatives of same (“RELEASEES”), of and from
all actions, causes of action, suits, debts, damages, judgments, claims, executions and
demands whatsoever the CUSTOMER ever had, now has, or hereafter can, shall or may
have for or relating to the 2025 BMW i5 xDrive40 Sedan automobile (VIN No.
WBY13HG02SCU85189)(“the Vehicle”).

Yeah...you can keep the $475.

——————————————————-
It seems like the only one you can go after is Butch their Doberman guard dog. But I doubt you want to face him since he will be off his leash while in the court room.

jmonroe

Sandman6472 · November 21

Comcast has been putting in lines for their fiber internet all around here and they got to our place yesterday. As I was getting into the shower, turned it on and no water! Nothing. Tried another sink...and again, nothing. Got dressed and went outside to talk to them. This time, there were 2 guys and a lady standing by the broken pvc pipe which supplies our water. As I found out the other day, the 2 guys don't speak any English! None! Lady proceeds to tell me they broke my water supply pipe which I said, "I know, I was just getting into a shower and no water"! I was a bit pissed as I had laundry to do and wanted a shower.
Seems they called the city water department and about an hour later, they knock on the door and tell me the water is fixed and they also made sure the pressure was the same as it was. Mentioned that I have underground sprinklers in the 2 places they dug up today and I needed a number to call if something is wrong with them or the water pipe has issues. Don't feel like I need to pay if there are any issues down the road. Got that so will see tomorrow morning if the front sprinklers do work as they come on Saturdays. Comcast will be in our area for awhile so if things aren't o k, I know where to find them!
It's always something!!!

Kirstie_H · November 21

jmonroe1 said:

Since you’re in a helpful mood maybe you can tell me how to see the cars owned by our members. This feature disappeared days ago and I can’t get it back. I’ve logged out/back in and I’ve even rebooted my iphone but I can’t get that feature back. FWIW, I can see it on my desk top.

I'm usually in a helpful mood! Looks like signature lines aren't visible on the mobile version now, if they ever were. I don't use mobile much because features are so limited, and getting to the admin tools is torture, but I just took a look and I don't see member signature lines.

tjc78 · November 21

I’ve never seen sig lines on mobile.

tjc78 · November 21

However … if so inclined you can have Safari “request desktop site”.

tjc78 · November 21

Which then will display sig lines ….

tjc78 · November 21

Hey all … not really sure where to post this so why not here.

I visited Xiamen China for a week to visit current and new factories for work. What a trip… great place. We stayed across from the water in a touristy area. While not working there was plenty to do.

Anyway - the electric cars are extremely plentiful. Most I have no idea what they are … but in the next series of posts I will dump a ton of pics.

tjc78 · November 21

ab348 · November 21

tjc78 said:
However … if so inclined you can have Safari “request desktop site”.

If you do that, do things remain readable and navigable?

tjc78 · November 21

tjc78 · November 21

I rode in at least 10 different cars during the week.

Buick Minivans are everywhere. One of them I was in was an Avenir trim and quite honestly blew away the interior in my Mercedes.

The BYD electrics are clearly Tesla clones .. big center screen and all.

We were in some sort of other Chinese minivan that was also incredibly plush and loaded.

Mercedes here all seem to be “L” variants. The E class L I posted above felt like an S class inside.

The dealer pictures were from a shopping area that had many showrooms. They had Volvo and Tesla too but no pics since we know those.

oldfarmer50 · November 21

tjc78 said:
Hey all … not really sure where to post this so why not here.

I visited Xiamen China for a week to visit current and new factories for work. What a trip… great place. We stayed across from the water in a touristy area. While not working there was plenty to do.

Anyway - the electric cars are extremely plentiful. Most I have no idea what they are … but in the next series of posts I will dump a ton of pics.

I seem to remember reading that China was having so much trouble selling EVs that they had been discounted to around $8k. Quite a bargain.

au1994 · November 21

tjc78 said:

Dang, I wouldn’t kick a Stelato out of the garage

explorerx4 · November 21

Most of those cars look like Audi, Benz or Tesla knockoffs.

Michaell · November 21

I find it interesting that the vehicle badging is a mix of Chinese and English, but the number plates are English only.

corvette · November 21

I love the color on this one:

nyccarguy · November 21

Wild pics @tjc78 . Thank-you for sharing!

ab348 · November 21

That’s one big ol’ can of worms right there.

tjc78 · November 21

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:
However … if so inclined you can have Safari “request desktop site”.

If you do that, do things remain readable and navigable?

I can't tell a difference

tjc78 · November 21

corvette said:
I love the color on this one:

Yes! It was a stunner in person.

There was a darker green over saddle that was pretty nice as well.... like a modern version of 90s Hunter Green over Beige.

tifighter · November 21

The xpeng stuff is supposed to be pretty good, by most accounts.

jmonroe1 · November 21

@tjc78 said:
However … if so inclined you can have Safari “request desktop site”.

——————————————————
I cannot get that page on my iPhone. Maybe because I have an old phone…SE series. I can’t remember when I got it but probably around 2020 if not a little earlier.

FWIW, as much as you guys may think, I’m not crazy. Up until a week ago I saw the signature line on my phone. Why else would I bring it up? When did Edmunds make the change? It has to be related to the change. Like I said before, I can still see it on my desktop.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · November 21

@Kirstie_H said:
I'm usually in a helpful mood! Looks like signature lines aren't visible on the mobile version now, if they ever were. I don't use mobile much because features are so limited, and getting to the admin tools is torture, but I just took a look and I don't see member signature lines.

——————————————————
Thanks for the info.

jmonroe

xwesx · November 21

I dunno.... sounds like easy money to me. Did you dump it already?

tjc78 said:
I rode in at least 10 different cars during the week.

Wow; some of those interior shots are just impressive! Plush doesn't even begin to describe them.

And, that burgundy Stelato S9?! Whew....

corvette · November 21

@tjc78 - VW offered a color called "Alaska Green" in the early 2000s that was similar, which I also really liked.

jmonroe1 · November 21

@corvette said:
@tjc78 - VW offered a color called "Alaska Green" in the early 2000s that was similar, which I also really liked.

——————————————————-
They changed the name last year. It’s now called @xwesx Green.

jmonroe

xwesx · November 21

That's right! I'm worthy of it.

stickguy · November 22

JM most likely something updated on your phone and it changed that setting.

stickguy · November 22

I think rich rebuilds had a couple of videos where they were invited (in the US or Canada) to test drive a bunch of the Chinese EVs. And there was some impressive stuff at least features and performance wise. Not sure about build quality and durability of course. But there is a reason countries are blocking them from coming.

I assume the government over there already built out the charging infrastructure to support them.

stickguy · November 22

Ubered to dinner last night (up visiting in Boston). Got a Tucson with 107k on it that drive ok. And a Mitsubishi outlander that seemed pretty new and was actually very nice. Comfy and huge back seat. Big screen of course. A shame they are largely ignored.

laurasdada · November 22

Welcome to The Hub, @stickguy .
Use yah blinkah.

au1994 · November 22

Didn’t an Outlander win a magazine comparison test recently?

ab348 · November 22

stickguy said:
Ubered to dinner last night (up visiting in Boston). Got a Tucson with 107k on it that drive ok. And a Mitsubishi outlander that seemed pretty new and was actually very nice. Comfy and huge back seat. Big screen of course. A shame they are largely ignored.

For reasons I do not know, apparently Mitsubishi does better in the Canadian market than it does in the US. I know I see them fairly frequently here. There is a dealer not too far from me.

28firefighter · November 22

@laurasdada said:
Welcome to The Hub, @stickguy .
Use yah blinkah.

Last time I was in Boston, the blinkah seemed most certainly optional.

Michaell · November 22

@28firefighter said:

@laurasdada said:
Welcome to The Hub, @stickguy .
Use yah blinkah.

Last time I was in Boston, the blinkah seemed most certainly optional.

And the lane markings advisory.

oldfarmer50 · November 22

28firefighter said:

@laurasdada said:

Welcome to The Hub, @stickguy .

Use yah blinkah.

Last time I was in Boston, the blinkah seemed most certainly optional.

I thought the rule in Boston was that brake usage was optional until you heard breaking glass.😳

stickguy · November 22

Only drove as far as one of the western burbs off 95. Then Uber to Cambridge. Skipped the fun of actually driving into the city.

Michaell · November 22

Used to fly in and out of Logan at the height of the Big Dig. Not sure I’d recognize the place now that the work is all done.

stickguy · November 22

it was a big mess doing it, but huge improvement in the end. At least at ground level!

stickguy · November 22

got to ride in my friend's BMW i4 (we spent the night with them). my 2nd time ever riding in an EV (first was 2.5 years ago in a Mach E). very impressive overall. A bit lower than we are used to being a sedan (well, 5 door) but nothing like a sports car!

loved the interior. great seats, and seeing the big dash screen in action was impressive. And the surround view cameras and heads up display were addictive. Ride was comfortable. And typical quiet and operation. Even as an ICE version (so, a 3 series?) an impressive car. and the wife liked it (just would prefer it sits a bit higher).

I got to drive it too (first experience). That thing is quick, and you get going much faster than you should be without realizing it. The lack of engine roar feedback does not help.

the other difference was the regen braking. Took a while to get used to that. letting off the accelerator pedal felt like slamming on the brakes. after 10 minutes it was a bit better but still not really smooth. Probably something you quickly get adjusted to. At least for me, no clue how my wife will react to it. But will find out when we finally hit up the dealer for some test drives.

stickguy · November 22

oh, and for the EV skeptics, they still have not gotten around to putting in a charger in the garage but somehow keep the battery juiced. and even take it on trips (at least from Boston to Albany, about 160 miles each way so well within range). I asked how they charge. He has the 120 charger if really need to put some KW hours in at home. But has an assortment of places that have free charging (including his garage at work and some other places they often go to). and if really needed gets free charging curtesy of BMW at EV Go sites.

Oh, and the house my daughter just went under contract to buy has a Tesla charger in the garage that apparently comes with the place. She does not have anything to plug in, but if she ever gets one, will be all set!

corvette · November 22

The Tesla universal wall mounted charger is the best from a usability standpoint, very easy to charge NACS or J-1772. I went another route because it was cheaper and I prefer not to give money to Tesla.

The Big Dig was used as an example of the sunk cost fallacy in my undergrad macroeconomics course. No idea how I remember that all these years later, but my first time visiting Boston, it was long since completed.

stickguy · November 22

so you just put an adapter on the Tesla plug and can charge anything?

corvette · November 22

@stickguy - the fancy Tesla charger has a J-1772 that slides out of the enclosure. If you want NACS, you can press a button on the connector, and the enclosure retains the J-1772 adapter and gives you the NACS cable. It's confusing until you see it in action.

stickguy · November 22

I will get a picture of it on Wednesday and post it so you can tell me how good it is!

ab348 · 5:06AM

The man who names EV charge cables needs to come up with better names for the connector types. "Lightning" and "Thunderbolt" are already taken I guess, but something along those lines would help. "J-1772" just doesn't cut it.

sda · 11:38AM

I saw this when browsing this morning. Was this an optional paint finish?

ab348 · 11:44AM

Watching the NFL today, I see Toyota is advertising (I believe nationally) $289/mo leases on base RAV4 penalty boxes (the old style, clearing out what inventory they still have) and $259/mo leases on Tacoma pickups. Don't remember seeing them promote like this in recent years.

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