Random Thoughts Thread

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

There's also the Granite. I could see them doing an all 3-row Envoy that is just 5 inches longer than the Acadia.

Since only Chevy and Buick are using the long wheelbase, I can see them doing something from GMC and Cadillac (XT7) on it.   Got to fill the gaps.  In today’s CUV heavy market, I can see them doing this and being successful at it.  

Edited January 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

This site has an "original" GM history or legacy but has morphed, which is a good thing.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, of the various GM brands, Pontiac is the one that is most liked and most fondly remembered, given that it's gone and they were idiots to discontinue it.  As a kid, Pontiac was definitely my favorite GM brand.  Their front fascias were unique in the car business.

[Robert Hall]

I miss Pontiac and Oldsmobile..always liked their products as a kid.   The ones I wanted as a teenager in the 80s were the '84 Hurst/Olds in silver or a Trans Am GTA....but being in a Ford family, I got a Mustang GT. 

Edited January 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[Drew Dowdell]

12 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Acadia XL?

Basically

[Robert Hall]

18 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Nah you can see the fenders have the same swoosh as the Cruze, and a different grille with high mounted headlights from the FNR Carryall, which is just a stretched Blazer with dinky third row/cargo space hogger.

Ah, yeah it is different when I compare the pics...that shit all looks the same to me at first glance...

Edited January 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[Robert Hall]

Was playing around with Google street view around parts of Cleveland and found this '63 Pontiac in a grown up driveway w/ potted plants on the hood..looks like Google mapped that street in July '14, wonder if it is still there..

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5493777,-81.5580103,3a,37.5y,26.86h,80.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYlSYfCekI1crAGD3Y-NLFQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

A bit further down the same street sat this '68-69 Buick Skylark.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5501126,-81.5589316,3a,75y,12.53h,75.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sC5d1tqVRYvJ2RpvSyccBpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Edited January 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

Could you all give me your thoughts on small suvs? Not really impressed with anything from GM in that segment. Trax  is one of the least impressive SUV models. Ecosport is so dismal even Wings pans it over on Ford insider news. CRV sells well and has a nicely packaged interior. But CRV is one of the blandest post world war two vehicles by anyone. Escape is a nice product and attractive but not a lot of colors of packages of options are available and real world fuel economy is back of pack. Ride...handling and CVT in Crosstrek and other subies makes them not very compelling.

Toyota RAV 4 is unattractive and interior materials seem cheap.

Tiguan  from VW is back of the pack in terms of design.

Jeep Cherokee and Renegade seem like obvious choices but issues persist with the ZF nine speed transmission.

[A Horse With No Name]

What would anyone here buy in terms of small SUV if you were buying in that segment?

Only thing I could see dropping coin for is Subie or Jeep. I do like the Golf alltrak but it is underpowered imho with the 1.8.

Sold the Mini to a fellow SCCA guy last year when the water pump quit. Mom gave me her Aveo when dad died...it still only has 30k on the clock.

Thinking of giving the Aveo to my son graduating from College and buying my wife something larger and safer to drive.

Encore is underpowered IMHO and Envision is made in China so both of them are out.

[A Horse With No Name]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

[Robert Hall]

I'd probably look at the Compass, Equinox, CX-3, CR-V, and Escape.   Escape is the only one I've driven, but they all seem pretty reasonable for the price.  And the CR-V has cool taillights, IMO.  The CX-3 would probably be the most fun to drive, but probably the smallest inside of this group.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

My buddy/his family has had an old Mazda Tribute, now they have a honda CRv & mazda CX5. No one seems to like the CX5- he especially finds it annoying on numerous fronts, the nannies at times are actually dangerous, visibility is the worst of the 3. He's demo'd a few of it's quirks and I agreed with him. The CRV is only somewhat better than the CX5 on some fronts, but visibility  & servicing is terrible.

Its interesting- on the CX5 the front 'bumper' only protrudes about 1.5" beyond the leading edge of the hood. Basically, OEMs have rendered the entire front (100% plastic) fascia as sacrificial- there is no longer bumper protection (for the vehicle). In any decent hit, the fenders & hood are going to get trashed, too.

Edited January 13, 2019 by balthazar

[A Horse With No Name]

5 minutes ago, balthazar said:

My buddy/his family has had an old Mazda Tribute, now they have a honda CRv & mazda CX5. No one seems to like the CX5- he especially finds it annoying on numerous fronts, the nannies at times are actually dangerous, visibility is the worst of the 3. He's demo'd a few of it's quirks and I agreed with him. The CRV is only somewhat better than the CX5 on some fronts, but visibility  & servicing is terrible.

Its interesting- on the CX5 the front 'bumper' only protrudes about 1.5" beyond the leading edge of the hood. Basically, OEMs have rendered the entire front (100% plastic) fascia as sacrificial- there is no longer bumper protection (for the vehicle). In any decent hit, the fenders & hood are going to get trashed, too.

CX 5 is not even remotely on my list for reasons above and beyond ones mentioned. For one major thing...I don't think Mazda has got a good grip on its corrosion problem even now. And the design language that works well on thier cars is dismal on their SUVs.

Also...the Mazda SUVs all feel underpowered and are ergonomically awkward IMHO.

In terms of bumpers not protecting much mu daughter the claims adjuster actially writes a good bit of Mazdas off in low speed frontal collisions bevause they damage easily and substantially.

My aunt has a CRV and yes to only marginally better than the Mazda. They also frequently suffer turbocharger damage in low speed frontal collisions. 

Joanna was very emphatic that we her parents not even test drive a CRV. She deals with a lot of damaged vehicles so I trust her opinion.

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

7 minutes ago, balthazar said:

If the Mustang to the left was actually a convertible this would be one major project for each of us.

[ocnblu]

Here is Ford's 18" accessory wheel for the Ranger.  Looks good!

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

If the Mustang to the left was actually a convertible this would be one major project for each of us.

Looks like a rag top atop the windshield to me!
I got my hands full on the B-59, and I don't do 4-drs. ;)

[Drew Dowdell]

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

What would anyone here buy in terms of small SUV if you were buying in that segment?

Only thing I could see dropping coin for is Subie or Jeep. I do like the Golf alltrak but it is underpowered imho with the 1.8.

Sold the Mini to a fellow SCCA guy last year when the water pump quit. Mom gave me her Aveo when dad died...it still only has 30k on the clock.

Thinking of giving the Aveo to my son graduating from College and buying my wife something larger and safer to drive.

Encore is underpowered IMHO and Envision is made in China so both of them are out.

I took a rental Cherokee Limited to Florida and back in December.  Even with the V6 and driving at quite extra-legal speeds, I managed 26/27 mpg the whole time.  My Encore does the same these days even at slower speeds.  Other than that, I'd look at the CX-5 once the turbo comes out.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I took a rental Cherokee Limited to Florida and back in December.  Even with the V6 and driving at quite extra-legal speeds, I managed 26/27 mpg the whole time.  My Encore does the same these days even at slower speeds.  Other than that, I'd look at the CX-5 once the turbo comes out.

Cherokee seems like a rational choice. How did you find the 9 speed?

[daves87rs]

26 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Cherokee seems like a rational choice. How did you find the 9 speed?

Was in my bosses ride...the 9 speed is nice... 🙂 

[Drew Dowdell]

9 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Cherokee seems like a rational choice. How did you find the 9 speed?

It's really an 8-speed unless you manually force it into 9th under very specific conditions, but other than that it's fine. Nice and smooth.

Just now, Drew Dowdell said:

It's really an 8-speed unless you manually force it into 9th under very specific conditions, but other than that it's fine. Nice and smooth.

That said, I would not go for the base 4-cylinder. Go with the V6 (now standard on the Limited) or the Turbo-4 (a $500 upgrade)

[A Horse With No Name]

19 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

It's really an 8-speed unless you manually force it into 9th under very specific conditions, but other than that it's fine. Nice and smooth.

That said, I would not go for the base 4-cylinder. Go with the V6 (now standard on the Limited) or the Turbo-4 (a $500 upgrade)

V6 or Turbo was exactly what I was thinking. Probably won't do Anything until fall. 

[ccap41]

On 1/11/2019 at 5:52 PM, ocnblu said:

$1600 for a bare headlight assembly from Ford (no bulbs, no dust caps).  Just priced one today for a Focus ST we have in the shop.  Insurance company wrote the estimate for a base Focus, and aftermarket at that...

That's insane. 

[oldshurst442]

I may need to take a drive on the Pacific Coast Highway sometime soon.

 

[David]

So today I got a text message from a sister who is a bit holy roller.

I'm on my way to get a spiritual work out and probably a spiritual spanking while we are at it.

My response: Does the spiritual really show up or just the hypocrites?

Am I wrong? 🤔

[A Horse With No Name]

53 minutes ago, dfelt said:

So today I got a text message from a sister who is a bit holy roller.

I'm on my way to get a spiritual work out and probably a spiritual spanking while we are at it.

My response: Does the spiritual really show up or just the hypocrites?

Am I wrong? 🤔

Just be honest with your lack of belief.

[balthazar]

I like to leave people's personal beliefs alone. If it works for them; great. People believe all SORTS of things, as long as they aren't hurting others, go to town. Especially if it brings them comfort / guidance. Life is hard enough without fighting off people who want to call you stupid all day long.

[daves87rs]

Well, looks like winter is on the way....

They are talking 8-12 inches with 40-50MPH wind gusts.

Sounds like I will be spending my weekend inside!

[balthazar]

[Robert Hall]

7 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Well, looks like winter is on the way....

They are talking 8-12 inches with 40-50MPH wind gusts.

Sounds like I will be spending my weekend inside!

Similar to what they are forecasting for here in Cleveland...ugh.  Already have 3-4 inches on the ground from last weekend.   And if it gets windy, that means power outages...ugh. 

[A Horse With No Name]

20 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Similar to what they are forecasting for here in Cleveland...ugh.  Already have 3-4 inches on the ground from last weekend.   And if it gets windy, that means power outages...ugh. 

We were going to go to Cleveland to Help with a high school debate tournament Saturday, that might not happen.

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

I like to leave people's personal beliefs alone. If it works for them; great. People believe all SORTS of things, as long as they aren't hurting others, go to town. Especially if it brings them comfort / guidance. Life is hard enough without fighting off people who want to call you stupid all day long.

When I get into a debate with a religious person, I usually say that I am not very religious and don't want to talk about it. Works 90 percent of the time. If they choose to get ugly and push the issue, I am very good at pushing back and usually make people angry/uncomfortable/enraged/want to beat my ass/seething... until they leave me alone.

People that want to have an intelligent discussion about religion are entirely different...will also have intelligent discussions with respectful people all day long if they want to.

[David]

11 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Just be honest with your lack of belief.

Always have been my friend, growing up in religion and studying it has made me who I am that says god does not exist. LOL, my sarcasm against my sister bible thumping is another thing all together.

[frogger]

We have only had 2 or 3 inches of total snow this winter season so I'm actually sort of looking forward to the storm this weekend.  The cold coming with it I could do without though.

 

[ccap41]

We got about 10-12 last weekend and we're supposed to get a few more this weekend. I think it's estimated around 4-8 inches.. but with ice to start.. 

I think all of last year/season we got under 8 inches. Usually we get more than that. I think last year was either a record low for a season or very close to a record for STL. 

[daves87rs]

Looks like more like 4-6 at the moment...could go with that.Though next week it looks like a good snow every other day...

The cold is the part that bothers me...having asthma sucks....

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

The last pic makes me want a fastback Mustang again.

Perfect for the Mustang in question...

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

[David]

NJ is the #1 state people are moving out of for jobs, retirement or a few other reasons.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/people-are-fleeing-from-new-jersey-more-than-any-other-state—heres-the-no-1-reason-why/ar-BBS7uMH?li=BBnb7Kz

• 46% of the residents who moved out listed Job as the deciding factor.
• 24% listed retirement, rather spend their golden years elsewhere.
• 22% listed moving closer to Family.
• 17% listed Lifestyle change.
• 5% listed health.

Story says 67% of moves was outbound from NJ where 33% were inbound.

Study says there is a large trend of residents leaving the NE for elsewhere in the country.

The data aligns with longer-term trends of people moving to the south and west coast.

One point from the study is that NJ is the 9th highest taxed state in the nation and for retirement, people can live longer on less by moving to states that are low taxed.

Study does say that 5 of the 10 worst performing states from the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index are in the NE.

Fleeing NJ makes sense since it is one of the ten most expensive states to live in America.

🤔 I do wonder where I will end up living once I move into working retirement mode. 🤔

[Robert Hall]

I know some years Arizona has been #1 for moving into, whether for work or retirement...after living there, I'm not going back..can't stand the climate.  Same with Nevada....I just can't stand the ugliness of the desert and the dry and heat. 

I do get a lot of headhunters pinging me about jobs in NJ/NYC, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Seattle (Amazon recruiters weekly pretty much).     I have about 20 years to go until retirement...i'm happy in Ohio for now..  

[A Horse With No Name]

Ohio is not a bad place to live.

[A Horse With No Name]

Sigh...break is over, back to work.

[ykX]

47 minutes ago, dfelt said:

NJ is the #1 state people are moving out of for jobs, retirement or a few other reasons.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/people-are-fleeing-from-new-jersey-more-than-any-other-state—heres-the-no-1-reason-why/ar-BBS7uMH?li=BBnb7Kz

• 46% of the residents who moved out listed Job as the deciding factor.
• 24% listed retirement, rather spend their golden years elsewhere.
• 22% listed moving closer to Family.
• 17% listed Lifestyle change.
• 5% listed health.

Story says 67% of moves was outbound from NJ where 33% were inbound.

Study says there is a large trend of residents leaving the NE for elsewhere in the country.

The data aligns with longer-term trends of people moving to the south and west coast.

One point from the study is that NJ is the 9th highest taxed state in the nation and for retirement, people can live longer on less by moving to states that are low taxed.

Study does say that 5 of the 10 worst performing states from the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index are in the NE.

Fleeing NJ makes sense since it is one of the ten most expensive states to live in America.

🤔 I do wonder where I will end up living once I move into working retirement mode. 🤔

Sad but true.  I live in NJ and unless my kids when grow up stay in NJ, I don't see myself retiring here.

[A Horse With No Name]

15 minutes ago, ykX said:

Sad but true.  I live in NJ and unless my kids when grow up stay in NJ, I don't see myself retiring here.

Ohio is a nice balance between Taxes and services. 

[ykX]

18 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Ohio is a nice balance between Taxes and services. 

Ohio is on the list of highest move out states as well

The top outbound states for 2018 were:

1.     New Jersey

2.     Illinois

3.     Connecticut

4.     New York

5.     Kansas

6.     Ohio

7.     Massachusetts

8.     Iowa

9.     Montana

10. Michigan

Edited January 17, 2019 by ykX

[David]

44 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Ohio is not a bad place to live.

That looks like a NJ plate on that truck.  

[riviera74]

20 minutes ago, ykX said:

Ohio is on the list of highest move out states as well

The top outbound states for 2018 were:

1.     New Jersey

2.     Illinois

3.     Connecticut

4.     New York

5.     Kansas

6.     Ohio

7.     Massachusetts

8.     Iowa

9.     Montana

10. Michigan

That is no surprise since Florida, Arizona and perhaps Texas are their destination states for retirement.  I have seen people move to Florida most of my life, and all of it started back in the 1950s (before I was even born).

[Robert Hall]

I do like some parts of Florida..having lived in the Keys in middle school and high school.    Not sure where I'm going to retire to eventually, ideally some place w/ mountains and beaches.     My sister plans to retire in about 5 years and winter in Florida.    

[ccap41]

Yup, good ole IL is #2. I wouldn't live here if finding a job and moving were super easy.