Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

Random small parking lot 'spot census' :
truck/van: 4
car: 5
SUV/CUV: 11

[ykX]

So was playing with my insurance online, getting sample quotes based on VIN numbers of the cars on sale nearby.  Very interesting numbers:

2017 Shelby GT350 is $200 a year more to insure than 2018 Mustang GT, which in turn $20 more expensive to insure than 2017 Corvette Grand Sport ( biggest surprise for me) which is only $30 a year more to insure than 2019 Miata RF Club.

Is Corvette so cheap to insure because only retirees are buying them and than driving them 10mph under the speed limit?

[balthazar]

Or.... are miata drivers that reckless/poor drivers that their accident rate pushes them into Corvette territory? 😉

[ykX]

18 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Or.... are miata drivers that reckless/poor drivers that their accident rate pushes them into Corvette territory? 😉

Actually, Miata's price was just $20 more expensive than 2016 Mazda 6.

It is definitely the Corvette

Just for the hell of it put BMW M4 and that was $400 more expensive a year than GT350 and over $600 more expensive than GS. 

[balthazar]

Sometimes I think the insurance biz operates on another plane. Their numbers can be puzzling.

[David]

I tend to think the Insurance business knows that young men can afford a used Miata and will attempt to make it a street racer with a fart can attached and as such charge more than the older men who can afford the corvette.

[ykX]

13 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I tend to think the Insurance business knows that young men can afford a used Miata and will attempt to make it a street racer with a fart can attached and as such charge more than the older men who can afford the corvette.

So Mazda 6 is also a racer car?

Funny how GM fanboys operate.

Shelby GT350 is $60k and up car, pretty much in the same territory price wise as C7 Corvette and C7 Grand Sport has higher level of performance than Shelby.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ykX

[ccap41]

36 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Sometimes I think the insurance biz operates on another plane. Their numbers can be puzzling.

So, kind of like...KBB... 

[David]

52 minutes ago, ykX said:

So Mazda 6 is also a racer car?

Funny how GM fanboys operate.

Shelby GT350 is $60k and up car, pretty much in the same territory price wise as C7 Corvette and C7 Grand Sport has higher level of performance than Shelby.

Yup, the Mazda 6 get the ricer treatment here in the PNW just as much as the Miata. I think it is a culture thing of the Asian community here. You also see ricer Acura's, Toyota's, Seems if it is from Japan, they get the fart can, fast n furious applied graphics and some attempt at tune.

They are funny,

Thank you, never considered myself a Fanboy, but ok, if that is what you want to call it. 😛 

[ccap41]

I see as many riced out Mazda 6's as I do Impalas/Malibus/Fusions/Camrys/Legacies/Optimas/Accords(post 90's). 

You may not be a fanboy but "heavily leaning". 

[David]

6 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I see as many riced out Mazda 6's as I do Impalas/Malibus/Fusions/Camrys/Legacies/Optimas/Accords(post 90's). 

You may not be a fanboy but "heavily leaning". 

 I guess so since I do have mostly GM auto's, but then I keep my hand in others too as the family has 2 dodges and 1 jeep. 😛 

[ccap41]

It isn't about what one owns. It's more in how a vehicle and brand is defended and excused of flaws. 

[ykX]

40 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Yup, the Mazda 6 get the ricer treatment here in the PNW just as much as the Miata. I think it is a culture thing of the Asian community here. You also see ricer Acura's, Toyota's, Seems if it is from Japan, they get the fart can, fast n furious applied graphics and some attempt at tune.

They are funny,

Thank you, never considered myself a Fanboy, but ok, if that is what you want to call it. 😛 

Just for you I went online again and quoted compatible 2016 Malibu instead of Mazda 6.

Guess what, Malibu is $30 more expensive per year than Mazda 6

But thank you very much for proving my point

[David]

21 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

It isn't about what one owns. It's more in how a vehicle and brand is defended and excused of flaws. 

We'll lately, no excuse for some of the crappy approach to GM's auto's and sucky packages of options.

[Drew Dowdell]

My toronado costs $100 a year to insure. 😛

 

[A Horse With No Name]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

Or.... are miata drivers that reckless/poor drivers that their accident rate pushes them into Corvette territory? 😉

Actually my Miata was dead cheap to insure. an F150 crew cab was more than a vette or Mustang gt when I checked.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

My toronado costs $100 a year to insure. 😛

 

Classic car insurance is the bomb...of course no one ever drove them like the Vette or Stang.

One of the best things posted yet...

 

I think I am in love and lust....

[balthazar]

16 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

My toronado costs $100 a year to insure. 😛

My '40 has you beat: $98. I think I have it valued at $8500.
- - - - -
Egregious Massachusetts citizen oppression :
 

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

[David]

Everyone, Would you pay $40,000 plus to have your old tired Miata restored to factory freshness or even better?

Seems Mazda has a service that will do just that, read about it here: https://www.thedrive.com/news/29942/mazda-will-restore-your-na-miata-roadster-to-factory-perfection-for-40k

Have to say, that for me, it would not be worth it but it is very cool!

[David]

Very cool Subaru Camper conversion.

Smart Woman

 

[David]

Should Cadillac have built this version of an early Escalade rather than give us the Cimmeron?

https://www.facebook.com/Abimelecdesign/posts/1872878909525052

[daves87rs]

8 hours ago, dfelt said:

Everyone, Would you pay $40,000 plus to have your old tired Miata restored to factory freshness or even better?

Seems Mazda has a service that will do just that, read about it here: https://www.thedrive.com/news/29942/mazda-will-restore-your-na-miata-roadster-to-factory-perfection-for-40k

Have to say, that for me, it would not be worth it but it is very cool!

That’s car love there....I say why not! 🙂 

[balthazar]

IMO, a miata should be $15K brand new, so I'd vote no way on dumping $40K into one.

[ykX]

Finally both my wife's car and mine have Carplay/Android Auto.

After using it for the last week or so, who in the right mind will go back to using OEM navigation/infotainment system?

Car manufacturers are moron for resisting it for so long and wasting money developing their own systems.  Thankfully more and more seem to see the light and switching to either Android or Apple based infotainment systems.

 

[trinacriabob]

I am getting older.  Am I asleep?  (Some Rip Van Winkle factor in the equation.)

I remembered that, by September and October, American manufacturers released their next MY lineup ... all of the vehicles.

Out of curiosity, I looked to see the 2020 Chevrolet (pared down) lineup in official form and couldn't find it. When will this information be made available and displayed to the general public?  This would also apply to other manufacturers.

[Robert Hall]

10 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I am getting older.  Am I asleep?  (Some Rip Van Winkle factor in the equation.)

I remembered that, by September and October, American manufacturers released their next MY lineup ... all of the vehicles.

Out of curiosity, I looked to see the 2020 Chevrolet (pared down) lineup in official form and couldn't find it. When will this information be made available and displayed to the general public?  This would also apply to other manufacturers.

www.chevrolet.com.   Have to click on each model, some have 2019 only (like the discontinued Impala), some have 2019 and 2020 (Malibu).

[frogger]

3 hours ago, ykX said:

Finally both my wife's car and mine have Carplay/Android Auto.

After using it for the last week or so, who in the right mind will go back to using OEM navigation/infotainment system?

Car manufacturers are moron for resisting it for so long and wasting money developing their own systems.  Thankfully more and more seem to see the light and switching to either Android or Apple based infotainment systems.

 

Its definitely one of the things I'm looking forward to most for our next vehicle.  Wife is pretty set on 2020 Outback XT.

[daves87rs]

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

IMO, a miata should be $15K brand new, so I'd vote no way on dumping $40K into one.

Well, the same could be said for classic cars too...heck, most were under 10k.... 😉 

But I do agree that it is an insane amount of money to spend..

But it’s hard to say much for those folks when folks are willing to spend that or more restoring a 57 Chevy ...

In the end, it’s all about the love the car.. 🙂

 

Of course, I would be willing to do both..lol.....

[David]

6 hours ago, ykX said:

Finally both my wife's car and mine have Carplay/Android Auto.

After using it for the last week or so, who in the right mind will go back to using OEM navigation/infotainment system?

Car manufacturers are moron for resisting it for so long and wasting money developing their own systems.  Thankfully more and more seem to see the light and switching to either Android or Apple based infotainment systems.

 

Right! I am so happy GM has signed on to have Google be their new system next year.

[Drew Dowdell]

6 hours ago, ykX said:

Finally both my wife's car and mine have Carplay/Android Auto.

After using it for the last week or so, who in the right mind will go back to using OEM navigation/infotainment system?

Car manufacturers are moron for resisting it for so long and wasting money developing their own systems.  Thankfully more and more seem to see the light and switching to either Android or Apple based infotainment systems.

 

Did you have to get an update or something? Or just a whole new car?

[David]

For those that like Big Machinery, Seattle has open their new Under ground Alaska way freeway that replaced our Viaduct. This movie was assembled by the WSDOT and shows in speeded mode the removal of the Viaduct and reconnecting the city with the waterfront. You will see the Dell Technology building I work in at 4:55 in the video. This is the South end removal of the Viaduct that is only inches away from buildings.

 

[ykX]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Did you have to get an update or something? Or just a whole new car?

I got my wife couple weeks ago a new car which has the smartphone integration.  My dad got her old car and I got his 2016 Mazda 6.  Luckily for me Mazda made infotainment back compatible with Carplay/Android Auto starting from 2016 (software upgrade and new USB port).  Upgrade is not cheap (up to $400, depending on the dealer, I paid $375) but IMO totally worth it.

[balthazar]

3 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Well, the same could be said for classic cars too...heck, most were under 10k.... 😉
But I do agree that it is an insane amount of money to spend..
But it’s hard to say much for those folks when folks are willing to spend that or more restoring a 57 Chevy ...

I was commenting on what it should cost now, not what it originally stickered for.
I mean; you can buy a brand new miata with a full warranty for $25K, why would you take one you already have money invested in, then dump $40K into it on top of that? It's the same car.

'57 Chevys' average sale prices are crazy, and they can cost less to restore than many other cars.

Edited October 1, 2019 by balthazar

[daves87rs]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

I was commenting on what it should cost now, not what it originally stickered for.
I mean; you can buy a brand new miata with a full warranty for $25K, why would you take one you already have money invested in, then dump $40K into it on top of that? It's the same car.

'57 Chevys' average sale prices are crazy, and they can cost less to restore than many other cars.

I know...just having a little fun with you. 🙂 

 

And D-A-M-N on the prices of those 57s....knew they were starting to get up there....but wow!

Guess one would expect that as the cars are over 60 years old now.....

[ccap41]

I wonder what KBB says a '57 Chevy is worth... 

[trinacriabob]

18 hours ago, dfelt said:

For those that like Big Machinery, Seattle has open their new Under ground Alaska way freeway that replaced our Viaduct. This movie was assembled by the WSDOT and shows in speeded mode the removal of the Viaduct and reconnecting the city with the waterfront. You will see the Dell Technology building I work in at 4:55 in the video. This is the South end removal of the Viaduct that is only inches away from buildings.

 

Thank you!  This is very interesting!  Is the job complete?  If not, when will it be completed? This is analogous to what both Boston and San Francisco did at their CBD waterfronts.

From the video, it looks like the tunnel has 2 lanes in each direction.  I was hoping it would have 3. I believe the viaduct had 3 lanes.  Hey, driving on its top deck was o.k. ... haha.

The first time I was in Seattle was in the mid-'80s.  It wasn't as touted as it was a decade later.  You could buy a brick ranch (rambler) in West Seattle for $ 85,000.  Go figure.

- - - - -

Speaking of Seattle also makes it natural to talk about commercial aircraft.

The Boeing 747-8, although lackluster in sales, still keeps going, mostly through orders for the freighter.  The jumbo first flew on Feb. 9, 1969.

However, I believe the double decked A380's days are over.  Emirates has already retired several and Air France is planning to retire ALL of their A380s by 2022.  This is mind blowing and I found this in this 2 day old article.  Come on, Air France, order up some B747-8s, given that you already have a lot of B777s in the fleet.

https://leehamnews.com/2019/09/30/a380-service-life-struggles/

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

KBB seems to think cars were invented in 1992.  

[Robert Hall]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

KBB seems to think cars were invented in 1992.  

Well, that is 27 years...getting pretty old and into classic/collector car territory and outside of typical used cars before that...a typical used car buyer probably isn't going to be looking at models that old.  There are specialist sites/price guides for older models. 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

On 10/1/2019 at 8:11 AM, Robert Hall said:

www.chevrolet.com.   Have to click on each model, some have 2019 only (like the discontinued Impala), some have 2019 and 2020 (Malibu).

I did just that.  I was surprised to see that both the Spark and the Sonic continue.  I thought only one would continue because the sizes and price points are so close together.  IIRC, these are not built in the U.S.

I did a little bit of build and price.  If you get the base LS model on both of these cars, you get MANUAL windows.  Huzzah!   These cars share parts.  The IP instrument cluster is virtually identical in both.  The Spark comes with a CVT automatic while the Sonic gets a geared automatic transmission.  You can't knock manual windows!

[David]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Thank you!  This is very interesting!  Is the job complete?  If not, when will it be completed? This is analogous to what both Boston and San Francisco did at their CBD waterfronts.

From the video, it looks like the tunnel has 2 lanes in each direction.  I was hoping it would have 3. I believe the viaduct had 3 lanes.  Hey, driving on its top deck was o.k. ... haha.

The first time I was in Seattle was in the mid-'80s.  It wasn't as touted as it was a decade later.  You could buy a brick ranch (rambler) in West Seattle for $ 85,000.  Go figure.

- - - - -

Speaking of Seattle also makes it natural to talk about commercial aircraft.

The Boeing 747-8, although lackluster in sales, still keeps going, mostly through orders for the freighter.  The jumbo first flew on Feb. 9, 1969.

However, I believe the double decked A380's days are over.  Emirates has already retired several and Air France is planning to retire ALL of their A380s by 2022.  This is mind blowing and I found this in this 2 day old article.  Come on, Air France, order up some B747-8s, given that you already have a lot of B777s in the fleet.

https://leehamnews.com/2019/09/30/a380-service-life-struggles/

 

Agree with you on the Plane comments.

The Viaduct is gone, that portion is all done, the Tunnel is only 2 lanes in both directions as there is no Mid City exits like the Viaduct had, so reduced traffic and yet from my office window you can see it is slow craw through the tunnel. They should have built two tunnels with 3 lanes in each direction and 1 for HOV. But politicians are stupid and do not think that far in the future or future planning based on a city's growth, so while no payment has been made yet, it is already needing to be replaced with a bigger road. 🙄

Where the Viaduct used to stand will now be parking for some areas, park area for others and this will be done over the next 1 1/2 years as they also remodel and update the waterfront.

[balthazar]

Helicopter

Pontoonicopter

Pontunafishcopter

Procrastinatepontunafishcopter

This is how new words are born.

Edited October 3, 2019 by balthazar

[trinacriabob]

9 hours ago, dfelt said:

Agree with you on the Plane comments.

The Viaduct is gone, that portion is all done, the Tunnel is only 2 lanes in both directions as there is no Mid City exits like the Viaduct had, so reduced traffic and yet from my office window you can see it is slow craw through the tunnel. They should have built two tunnels with 3 lanes in each direction and 1 for HOV. But politicians are stupid and do not think that far in the future or future planning based on a city's growth, so while no payment has been made yet, it is already needing to be replaced with a bigger road. 🙄

Where the Viaduct used to stand will now be parking for some areas, park area for others and this will be done over the next 1 1/2 years as they also remodel and update the waterfront.

In 1963, they didn't think that far ahead, either, and the 520 bridge across the lake was built with 2 lanes in each direction.  I have not yet driven on the new 520 bridge.  I am looking forward to that.

As soon as I saw a video with 2 lanes inside the tunnel, I knew that it was a stupid decision.  Was there not enough width to go for 3 lanes?  That's just a rhetorical question.  There are so many things to consider:  ROW, soils, thickness of the tunnel walls, etc., etc.

[David]

5 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

In 1963, they didn't think that far ahead, either, and the 520 bridge across the lake was built with 2 lanes in each direction.  I have not yet driven on the new 520 bridge.  I am looking forward to that.

As soon as I saw a video with 2 lanes inside the tunnel, I knew that it was a stupid decision.  Was there not enough width to go for 3 lanes?  That's just a rhetorical question.  There are so many things to consider:  ROW, soils, thickness of the tunnel walls, etc., etc.

Yes actually they could have gone 3 lanes across, but the politicians did not like only having emergency exits on one side of the tunnel and wanted both side to have emergency exits with 3 feet of shoulder space, do you have two lanes 14 feet wide and shoulders on both sides that are 3 feet plus emergency escape tunnels on both side big enough for emergency vehicles to come down in if needed, though they say most logical will be electric golf carts.

End result is yes they could have had 3 lanes each direction if they accepted the original plan for only emergency exits on one side of the tunnel and 10 foot wide lanes.

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

...but the politicians did not like...

Politicians are now tunnel engineers??

[David]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Politicians are now tunnel engineers??

Sadly they think so and as such the original 4.5 Billion tunnel is up to 8.5 billion in cost overruns, long term union jobs versus the original 500 million to replace the viaduct with a new one in place same size. The tax payers of Washington voted down the tunnel and voted approval of the viaduct replacement. Politicians ignored the people and did the tunnel. Engineering aside, they got what they wanted and not the people. The people have since voted out the people who approved the tunnel as it also benefited the 1% crowd of building owners. We will see how crazy traffic gets as Nov 9th is when the tunnel starts charging for use. Starts at a low cost of $1 dollar and tops out at $2.25 during rush hour. for the 9 miles of tunnel. Our 405 toll road is $1 and tops out at $10. Crazy as it has not reduced congestion and at times, the Toll is stop n go just like the regular lanes.

[balthazar]

^ 100% typical end result.
And 'voting out the people' will have no result- the next bunch will do the same thing.
If accountability is NOT directly and tangibly tied to political actions/projects, fiscal solvency will never be obtained.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 10/1/2019 at 2:51 PM, ykX said:

I got my wife couple weeks ago a new car which has the smartphone integration.  My dad got her old car and I got his 2016 Mazda 6.  Luckily for me Mazda made infotainment back compatible with Carplay/Android Auto starting from 2016 (software upgrade and new USB port).  Upgrade is not cheap (up to $400, depending on the dealer, I paid $375) but IMO totally worth it.

Cool. I didn't know they did that with the backwards compatibility. 

[David]

Japanese Classic Car show 2019 in California, 6th year and some damn fine Iron!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/japanese-classic-car-show-2019/ar-AAHQ33V?page=6#image=AAHQcYh|1

[balthazar]