What did you do today?

[havasu]

I'm actually kinda bewildered why someone who knows anything about cars would buy a GM product, especially a newer one, so I'd be fascinated to know the reason if you've got one.

Kind of a dumb story, but I've always loved the Lexus brand. When I gave my old Lexus to my daughter, I went back to the dealer, and in fact the same salesman, where I purchased 7 other vehicles from. Maybe he was having a bad day, or I was having a bad day, but he would not discount off the list price at all. I ended up at several Lexus dealers, and one guy said you will not find one luxury SUV in California selling less than list price. Well, that pissed me off. I passed my a Cadillac dealer, and saw a comparable luxury SUV, being the XT5. The list price was $65k and change, but then mentioned there were huge discounts available. We began haggling and I got him down to $52k, then he asked if I was a Costco member. After saying yes, he advised there was a $5k discount from Costco, dropping the price to $47k, which was well below the Lexus by $10k. That is my story. It is a beautiful car, but if and when Lexus gets hungry again, I will be back to negotiate another Lexus SUV.

 

[Spicoli43]

Shan, hope all is good with the tests.

Sorry for your loss, Redneck... I'll never understand why Dogs go so quick and a worthless Tortoise or worse, a Parrot, will long outlive a Human.

 

[Spicoli43]

Havasu, seems like every maker has an SUV that looks like that. Have you driven Toyota and noticed a difference in Lexus? My Sister has a Lexus, but I don't think I would pay extra for the name unless it was really worth it.

 

[havasu]

Although I also like many Toyotas, being the fatal traffic accident investigator in my area for dozens of years, I've seem the outcome of traffic collisions, and this is where you can see a big difference. Honestly, Volvo seems to always be the leader in regards to safety, but I just don't like their body designs.

 

[Spicoli43]

Although I also like many Toyotas, being the fatal traffic accident investigator in my area for dozens of years, I've seem the outcome of traffic collisions, and this is where you can see a big difference. Honestly, Volvo seems to always be the leader in regards to safety, but I just don't like their body designs.

Yeah, I have head that about Volvo for decades, but they couldn't make them look good.

And, now that I'm on Volvo's page, there it is, the same SUV as the Lexus and everybody else. Their cars don't look that bad, actually. I don't remember ever looking at their site.

 

[Spicoli43]

I get a couple spam / scam texts a day, mostly from DirecTV that I have never had, or something like that. Today's is from "Venmo" with a link to click or my account will be shut down, which is unfortunate since it doesn't exist.

"As a security check against your venmo account has been disable"

I would think they would get people to properly translate, but I don't care.

 

[BuzzLOL]

My DIL experienced a shutdown of her Impala. It turns out a "fly-by-wire" accelerator step motor had failed. Since the dash had to be removed for access just the labor to replace was an estimated $1200. My son removed the dash and cleaned the step motor. It's been OK for over a year now but she won't drive it. It may have been another occasion but she was once locked in and couldn't get out. I guess all cars and most motorcycles are "fly-by-wire" now. I recall when a local TV news person was killed on the interstate when her car stalled in rush hour traffic.

Most Americans depend on used cars to get around, but today's car designs make horribly expensive used cars...
When those automatic door locks wear out because they lock and unlock the doors every time you stop or slow down, it's $350 each to fix them times four car doors...
When Jeeps first went to drive by wire, you stopped/parked and you turned off the key and let out the clutch in 1st gear as usual... then the Jeep would sometimes lurch forward because turning off the key didn't kill the engine electrical power, it just asked Mr. Computer to shut down the engine and sometimes he was busy doing something else and didn't shut the engine down right away... and another part of the computer was making sure the engine didn't stall... so you had to learn to have a hard foot pressure on the brake pedal to over ride all that while shutting it down to prevent an accident...

 

[BuzzLOL]

Honestly, Volvo seems to always be the leader in regards to safety, but I just don't like their body designs.

Wasn't Volvo busted for secretly reinforcing the vehicles they used to fake their Volvo safety ads?

Volvo, Agency Fined $150,000 Each for TV Ad : Commercials: A spot showing a monster truck crushing all but the European car was misleading, the Federal Trade Commission says.

Volvo and its ad agency will fork up for their forgery.

www.latimes.com

 

[Eddie_T]

When one looks into the total cost per year for car ownership including all expenses it's quite an eye opener.

 

[Spicoli43]

When one looks into the total cost per year for car ownership including all expenses it's quite an eye opener.

Yeah, but it beats living in a Liberal City and walking / taking Uber's or whatever while fully knowing if you defend yourself and paint a criminal center mass, you are going to prison for a long time, while they would be out in a day or two for the same thing.

Then there's 800,000 other reasons to live in the Country.

 

[RedneckGrump]

So.... what did I do today..... I went to work, and a few hours in a felt like I might pass out..... so now, I have bought myself an overnight stay... ct chest for blood clots was negative, going to have an echo in the morning..... fun stuff....

Did I mention. I am not a great patient?

Lol, anyhow, just whining.... thankful for great health insurance

Hey @shan2themax I Hope you are ok, adding YOU to my prayers, Hope YOU begin to feel better...

Sorry RedNeck. It sucks having a pet (family member) pass. There are plenty of dogs that need to be adapted though. I’d encourage you to do that.

Hey, @Ron Van Going to give it some time... Hoping to do some travelling, Maybe at the end of summer will look into dogs again... But yeah it be a rescue for sure...

Sounds like you will be busy!

Well, the bedrooms are done, and the kitchen, just the living room plugs left to do...

Ruby and I would like to get our Motorhome out soon. It’s been sitting for too long.

Yeah, looking at them now,,, Waiting for the show in May...

 

[Eddie_T]

Yeah, but it beats living in a Liberal City and walking / taking Uber's or whatever while fully knowing if you defend yourself and paint a criminal center mass, you are going to prison for a long time, while they would be out in a day or two for the same thing.

Then there's 800,000 other reasons to live in the Country.

My old Prism is prolly the best choice for me and just borrow or rent a vehicle for trips. Or maybe just forget trips.

Pet ownership costs per year including all expenses can be quite eye opening as well. My feral (now tamed) cat is the exception but he don't listen or care what I say. He's a no vet cat just like the ones the Humane Society neuter and put back on the street. Maybe I should just find a street dog and offer him a similar contract. The cat's over 10yrs with only the neuter fee.

 

[havasu]

Wasn't Volvo busted for secretly reinforcing the vehicles they used to fake their Volvo safety ads?

Volvo, Agency Fined $150,000 Each for TV Ad : Commercials: A spot showing a monster truck crushing all but the European car was misleading, the Federal Trade Commission says.

Volvo and its ad agency will fork up for their forgery.

www.latimes.com

Personally, I think they all do. Volvo just got caught.
Speaking of getting caught, my significant other purchased a 2013 Kia Surrento. They claimed 24 mph average mpg. A group of brainiacs challenged their 24mpg claim, and sued Kia. Well, the braniacs won the suit. Well, we benefitted because they were fined millions of $, and the true number is 23 mpg. Since we have this car, Kia must reimburse us for their lies. We go to a Kia dealer once a year, they document the mileage, and we submit a claim online. Once a year Kia must send us a credit card for the expected loss of mileage, which equates to about $150 a year. This only applies to the original owner, so we won't sell. They were also sued for their aluminum blocks, and metal shavings accumulating in the oil, so we also have a coupon for a free, new install engine including labor. I'll never get rid of that cheapo SUV. In fact, I just spend 4 hours detailing it, just to keep it pretty looking.

 

[shan2themax]

I.got to come home around 330 this afternoon. Echo was great, no blood clots in the lungs. I am going to wear an event monitor (heart monitor) for 30 days and then I will f/u with the electrophysiologist in 2 months. I do have what is called orthostatic hypotension. My blood pressure lowers a decent amount especially going from sitting to standing. I suppose I will need to be more vigilant with wearing compression socks.
I do feel better today. I got a liter of IV fluids to help with my heart rate. I had ordered a chicken salad plate with fruit and some cheesecake for dinner but was discharged prior to dinnertime..... anyways.... one of my friends works on that floor and sent me a picture of her eating my cheesecake !!!


Thank you guys for the thoughts and prayers, its appreciated.

Sorry for your loss @RedneckGrump

 

[havasu]

Glad to here you are doing good Shan!

 

[zannej]

I don't think I would ever buy a brand new car just bc of the cost. But used cars are getting so much more expensive. I hate that the companies defraud people. I still don't like Kia because I remember they were absolute garbage when they came out. They were so crappy and cheap that, I kid you not, the dealerships in Guam actually had a "buy one get one free" deal on them. I don't know which particular model, but they apparently could hardly give those things away. Friend who was a mechanic said they were trash. Another friend wanted to buy a vehicle & I told her stay away from Kia. Her brother advised her to get a Kia. I asked if her brother hated her or was holding some sort of grudge to mislead her like that. She listened to him & got a Kia. Broke down within 3 days. She reported that it broke down every week for several months & she wished she'd listened to me when I said to avoid Kia. I think they have gotten better now, but I still equate them with garbage cars. Whenever I saw their ads with hamsters I thought about how fragile and short-lived hamsters are.

Shan, I'm glad there were no blood clots and echo was good. Do they make you use those adhesive patches for the monitor? I had to wear a week and it made my skin itch something fierce. Hope everything will be ok and that you will be feeling better soon.

Redneck, I'm very sorry to hear about Carl. It's always tough to lose our furbabies.

It rained all day and I didn't feel like doing anything. I cooked for Mom and put together the new litterbox with the pull-out drawer. Tried to get cats interested in it. Itsy is normally crazy about literboxes with fresh litter, but she didn't want to climb in. Temjin climbed in and used it but then didn't want to come back out. I had to take the top off and pick her up. Bethesda fell into and tumbled, then jumped right back out. I wish I had a camera I could set up to see how the others react to it without me around.

 

[Flyover]

Completed the small shelf hutch thing for my basement workbench yesterday, then over to my buddy's shop to make more headway on my main woodworking project. Also helped my other neighbor buddy with some fallen tree branch recovery. And my wife's on a big DIY home organization/makeover kick right now so I have more fun projects coming my way.

I need to clean up my garage workbench. I've noticed it gets the most messy when I haven't used it!

 

[RedneckGrump]

Good Morning Foks...
@shan2themax, So happy YOU are home again... and know what's wrong, and gives YOU a chance to begin to feel better, Praying for a speedy recovery for yourself.

KIA - Killed in Action, I remember yelling that years ago when we bought a Sportage when they first came to Canada. The Sportage we bought was in the garage more than we drove it. Eventually, where we bought it, I was told not to return to their shop/Dealership or they would call the cops. When we picked it up every time after them having it a week or two, it was never repaired, their excuse to me that day they kicked me out, is they were new to Canada, and don't have the mechanics that know how to fix them...I lost it and yelled out Killed in Action... Finally, after lots of arguing, and bringing in my lawyer, Kia Canada bought it back, nowhere what I paid for it... and I asked why so low, They're reply was it was not worth any more than what they bought it from me.

The only good news for KIA is that Hyundai bought them out... Not a HUGE fan of Hyundai either... But supposedly they know how to repair them now. But you could not pay me enough to buy one today.

Well Ladies, Gents, I hope YOU all have a fantastic Sunday...
Cheers~

 

[Eddie_T]

I found this to be interesting and true with respect to a collie I rehomed.
.

 

[BuzzLOL]

I still don't like Kia because I remember they were absolute garbage when they came out. They were so crappy and cheap that, I kid you not, the dealerships in Guam actually had a "buy one get one free" deal on them.

They did that everywhere including here. That's because the markup/profit on some of those Asian cars is horrendous! They get them for like $500 each and then sell them at prices similar to American made cars. That's how they can give you a 2nd one for buying one. And their salespeople make 10 times as much as sales people selling American made cars, so they have no trouble hiring salespeople to lie about their junk they're selling... A dealership quickly explodes into multiple dealerships in other cities...