Leaderboard

oh; THERE it is!!

I did a job in a Section 8 condo last year and the occupant had a big flat screen TV hanging off the wall (circa 55"). Careful, you might talk me into getting another flip phone! ;) But you are very much correct on this.

• Don't feed the Psychological Bears. • People should save more, esp those who believe a recession is rumbling down the 'pike. Lesser refunds is a GOOD thing (and on other counts, too). OK; so Big Flat TV sales don't spike; it'll all work out in the end.

The big check in April might help economy, but I think the goal for a financially smart person has to be to end up as close to zero as possible: not to own anything to the government and not to get a big refund either. A big refund means that you are overpaying your taxes during the year.

What about ... I dunno what else to call them... pumping losses? There must be some additional effort by the engine to create enough vacuum to pull through a dirty filter than it is to pull through a clean one? And wouldn't it be more dramatically noticed in a turbo-charged engine when the same amount of exhaust charge is not bringing in as much atmosphere as it did before? I dunno about you, but it is harder to suck air through a wet rag than it is a dry one... it's that effort that I'm talking about.

That's the point.. they do have higher emissions per mile... their engines, particularly their diesels, aren't as clean as those from other manufacturers. GM would probably have been on that list also, but they mostly pulled out of Europe. Peugeot was even upset and wanted a refund from GM because their cars were that much further behind in emissions ratings. Peugeot is hard at work replacing GM engines in the Opel lineup with PSA ones. Then there is the issue that a Jeep, just due to its shape, isn't going to be as efficient per mile as an equally powered wagon or hatch. That's a big reason why Europe will be getting the Compass PHEV and Renegade PHEV while we don't. But you're right, it is cheaper for FCA to pool with Tesla than it is for them to pay the fine.

Why are we demanding those drugs in the first place? I don't know the answer to that, probably many sociological and economic factors go into that, stress, depression, mental illness, etc. But maybe we should look to solving problems at home, rather than just blaming everyone else for our problems. And yes there is loads of corruption in Mexico with the drug cartels and they need to clean up their mess too.

Well, I know I did not see much of a refund...and that included adjusting for the less that was taken out of our paychecks. I do not know of anyone who made out on the extra few bucks saved. And once the EIC and healthcare credits are gone, no one will be getting much back... And you know things are getting bad when Wall Street depends on folks getting that big refund check...because they know folks will spend it. We are getting to a point (even with places like Amazon) where the money and credit will simply run out..... It’s also why we are finally seeing a slight pay increase in wages after nearly 15 years of no increases. Spending power does not go up when this happens, made worse now with how fast inflation has increased in the last year, not counting those last 15 or so... Heck, my favorite salsa has gone from 2.49 to 3.89 just within this year. A 20oz Pepsi from 1.59 to 2.19. Simple things are just seeing crazy increases, and not just to the newer wages.... If Mexican products see that increase- it might make 2008-09 look like a walk in the park.....

Which company only produces and sells cars in the USA? FCA, Ford and GM all import cars to the USA from other countries. And they all export to other countries. Tariffs would hurt every car company. Some would just feel more pain than others. Oddly enough Honda and Toyota would probably be hurt the least.

DRIVEN: 2019 Honda Accord LX 1.5t CVT, MSRP under 25k HIGHS: -Roomy, spacious, front and back, and in the trunk. Front seats reasonably comfortable. -Interior design and quality of plastics entirely nice enough for this price class. Clean, simple dash shape and console. Fake wood is decent, plastics are nicely grained. No complaints. -Its nice to not be in too much of a bunker. The side windows and glass area are generous enough that it is easier to see daylight out than some other competitors. Good front, rear and side visibility, comparatively speaking. -For a CVT, one of the better performing CVT's. And with good get up and go with a heavier throttle foot push than you would expect out of 1500 cc's. -Likewise, for a 1.5, the roll on acceleration is 'alright' as well. -The handling, steering etc. was pretty good. Maybe not worth the fellatio on Honda the buff books give the Accord, but nonetheless for this class of car it is at or near the top in this regard. The ride, as well, not too bad. (no, it's not 'sporting') -Dual zone climate comes standard with the LX. -I liked that the LX had the traditional shift lever and not the buttons or dial. -Simply put, a lot of the basics you need in this 'mid size' sedan class are satisfied well with the Accord. LOWS: -a CVT is still a CVT. Still 'rubberbandy' and still seems disconnected. Still laggy, and noise and drone. Just so much less of it than the CVT's 10-15 years ago. You just have to wonder how much more pleasing the car with be without the CVT and with a traditional stepped automatic.- -all manufacturer's play the trim level and packaging games. Even though this base trim had say, dual zone climate, you also don't have passive fob key access on the LX. If you want true keyless entry, you need to step up to the EX. Quite bush league / GM style. I will have to go back and see what safety equipment is on the LX trim. Power seat is missing here, which is truly acceptable for the LX I think, but you will want that as well. Moving up the EX gains you CarPlay / Android Auto, and blind spot / cross path detection as well. How do you expect to sell LX's without CarPlay or Android, I would ask Honda. -I wanted to hope this car escaped the Honda problem of the last handful of years, that being loud inside, not taking suspension noise and dampening it very well, perception of NVH issues....'tin canny'. It's like there is no sound deadener at all. This has been my impression on multiple Hondas the last 3-5 years. Stepping on the gas hard and getting the CVT drone only amplifies the problem even more. I just deeply imagine how much nicer this car would be to give up 1 mpg to a stepped traditional automatic and to push some sound deadening in the floor and manage the suspension so it takes road imperfections much more quietly. The perceived NVH is the biggest demerit of the car. -while I am coming around to accepting the styling more and more, it still is challenge to be happy with the strange styling. It really is going to take a lot to get this car out of the 'ugly' doghouse in my brain. At least the shape is functional and contributes to the good mpg and large spacious interior and trunk. It truly is up to the buyer to determine if they like the looks or not. -center console is a bit wide, knocks your leg a bit more than you'd like. Not fond of the screen sticking up out of the top of the dash either, although functionally it is not a problem. SUMMARY: A very decent car overall. But not manna from heaven the buff books would suggest, due to NVH issues and CVT. If you can tolerate the styling, CVT, and NVH issues, then this is one of the better options left in a now declining market. I wanted to test a Sport 2.0t and i imagine that will be a much more satisfying configuration. All this said, this a car i could live with totally if i needed to.

'56-57 Corvette. Note right-hand drive. Not a flipped image: 'ICE' is correct in background, and fuel filler is on correct left side. Not sure if this was a factory built export or what, but interesting all the same.

Hey...this body shell is still sexy AF. I like the Model S and all, but the Model S is really showing its age right about now. The Model 3 is fresher. Even if its smaller and similar looking to the Model S, the Model S is long in the tooth the design department. And that is even if you like the Model 3 design or not... But the Karma Fisker/Revero still looks good. Both came out about the same time, non? The new body shell would be a great idea for Bob Lutz to use and update his company's model for a Blackwing V8. Or really go medieval and ditch GM and get a Hellcat crate engine. Or really really go bat$h! crazy and get the Hellephant crate engine for it... But I wished the Revero was a 100% battery electric vehicle more than anything less at this point...

Who saw a start-up in a repurposed GM plant with a rebadged Lotus eventually upseating the c-class in sales??

@balthazar what phone did you end up getting?

Havent most if not all Americans of a certain wealth have bought big screen TVs? I mean, how many big flat TVs does an American household need to own? I mean, does an American household need to continuously spend every last cent they make on big screen TVs or any other consumer gadget? I mean, when can an American household free itself from over spending? Can an American household EVER be free of the shackles of consumer consumption? I mean, I know the American economy goes round and round with the consumption of consumer goods, but ya'll dont see how destructive it is when any money back that is given from any source is immediately calculated on how the American consumer MUST give it back through consumption? Yes! people SHOULD be saving more!!! People should be spending less. A lot less than they have! Its a myth that the American economy needs to be successful by having Americans OVERconsume... There was once upon a time where the American economy thrived by having Americans be SMART about their finances and NOT be consuming voraciously... Coincidentally, that was the time period when the President is referring to as making America Great Again I get the socio-political innuendo that that entails, but, at THAT point in time, the American household was more fiscally responsible... Why does today's world involve big business and corporations to rule over us? Why does every last red cent the American household makes and saves be tallied as and compared to and analyzed as how much the American household should be spending? On big ticket items? I make and save 5 bucks, but I have to fork it over to some phoquing corporation and buy something and put me into debt? The government cut me a check for 50 bucks, but now, I have to spend it on a 2000 dollar big ticket item for the benefit of a corporation? Is this what it is Im reading here? No wonder Im all pissy today! No wonder why @ccap41 is brainwashed and doesnt believe Boeing CEOs and engineers could NOT possibly know they did something wrong to kill hundreds of people...

Again, I get that. The premise of my original post was that the change would hurt sales of big ticket items like cars and appliances..... that's what appears to be happening.

While that may be true, it doesn't change the psychological fact that a big check in April helped move consumer spending along in a way that an extra $50 per pay doesn't do.

Add me to the list of people who don't find a flat plane V8 sounding attractive. It may not have as much power or rev as high, but an LT1 or Hemi at full tilt still sounds like my ideal regardless of the actual numbers.

Yes, I am and was last year as well.

I got a reply back from a GM spokesperson who said that PSA never pursued it.

I don't think I've ever heard somebody dislike the flat plane crank V8 of a Ferrari. But, if there was going to be one it would of course come from a full on EV fanboy... ironically driving two of the least efficient vehicles on the road...

What's worse- a established brand having to go to it's competition to source components/parts, or a start-up doing so?

That's some faulty logic there. They are attempting to be an all electric company eventually, so why put money into developing and building a gas motor when there are plenty out there that can be bought. The BMW choice give an air of premiumness to it... but they would have been suited equally well with something from Honda Motor Company. The market hasn't demanded EVs? Telsa is 1/3rd of the entire luxury sedan market at this point.

The CEO took responsibility for it... that is different than knowingly doing something wrong.

LOL Sometimes @dfelt you are something. What do you mean why would you want a Ferrari? As opposing to what, Tesla, Bolt? Noisy? Ferrari engines have one of the most beautiful sounds in the industry. Anyway, most this type of cars get to be driven very little to make a difference, Probably Fiats and Jeeps are the majority of FCA vehicles in Europe, and I doubt they have higher emissions than the rest of European manufacturers. It just the standards are strict and getting stricter so it makes sense financially to buy credits from Tesla, than to pay fines.

Capitalism with adult supervision is fantastic.

Come on, Greed is Good, Gecko says so........

Lets look at the 25% tariff hit: According to GM Authority quoting Detroit free press: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/04/trump-proposes-25-tariff-on-all-cars-made-in-mexico/ GM built 801,163 vehicles at its three Mexican assembly plants between January and November of 2018, 693,782 of which were exported to the United States or Canada. GM cars built in Mexico include the Chevrolet Blazer, Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback, Chevrolet Equinox Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Trax, GMC Sierra 1500 and GMC Terrain. Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/04/trump-proposes-25-tariff-on-all-cars-made-in-mexico/#ixzz5kSCkMfpy And according to the latest financial figures the average price of these auto's was $35,000 per Detroit Free Press Story. So this 25% Tariff on these auto's equals $8,750 on average which seems to be focused on allot of lower tier auto's which again hits the poor to low income that want a nice auto. End result is these idiotic threats of Tariffs are counter productive to the good of Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans. There are allot of Cans that are being hurt by incompetent leadership.

>>"Analysts say that lower tax refunds are largely to blame for the drop in spending, since many families use refunds as a "mandatory saving" mechanism that pays out each year come tax time."<< • If people are spending this on retail purchases, they aren't saving it, are they? • Article states actual Jan-Feb drop was a mere 0.6%. • The entire approach of having the IRS hold your money for a year plus, then you splurge spend it when they give it back to you is why such a large percentage of Americans have no savings/retirement funding. >>"lower refunds means less spending money. "<< Disingenuous. Tax brackets were adjusted downward, therefore most people saw larger paychecks throughout the year (no way to say how that stacked up against 2018 on the exact same circumstances).

Gotta start somewhere, I can see Lyft and Uber doing this to remove the people part that has also brought issues with rape, assault, even death. Down south in Tacoma, police are looking for a man who is posing as an Uber driver and raping woman. I can see these companies fully wanting a level 5 auto for their fleet to replace human drivers and insure the safety of the passengers.

I would agree that the amount of difference is too small to measure. However, I would disagree on a few points as stated. There have been a number of tests pitting different air filters against each other on a number of criteria. Where the said differences are much more measurable were found with oiled fiber (cotton) air filters (such as K&N units). The cornerstone of oiled filter's advertising has been 'increased airflow', and therefore increased speed at a given RPM, but these comparative tests showed repeatedly that oiled filters airflow rates decreased almost from Mile 1, falling steadily and quickly dipping below traditional dry filters. IOW; they only had higher airflow rates when completely clean. This is one reason OEMs don't ever use them (maintenance is another). If one is using an aftermarket filter, this may be a measurable factor. A short stretch of highway driving is not the ideal methodology to test MPG, as at-cruise operation uses very little fuel/airflow. A much better (but harder to duplicate exactly) would be an 'around town' loop where from-stop accelerations were repeated- much more typical of real world driving and encompassing higher airflow draws. This is where drivers would be better familiar with how their vehicle was performing relative to what they are accustomed to. This is where increased throttle position to match expected/desired/usual performance has a strong potential to indeed be measurable. But again; how to accurately reproduce this loop on repeated cycles.

My wordy-ness... GO PHOQUE YOURSELF!!! https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/ PS: YOUR OPINION MEANS SHYT AS ITS FLAWED!!! ITS WRONG!!! YOU NEED A LOLLIPOP TO DEAL WITH IT???!!!

Drew...his righteousness gone long enough. He never gave a counterpoint, nor proof. I gave MULTIPLE LINKS. I dont care if I persuade him or not... He phoquing insults me...my wordy-ness on which I gave links as to why I think this way... He just wants to troll to use a play on words...KNOWINGLY... And yet...I even gave proof of why Boeing CEOs and engineers MIGHT KNOWINGLY have done this... But...he is righteous...isnt he? PHOQUE HIM!!! HE IS A TROLL!!! Not because he believes what ever the phoque he believes, he wants to argue on a play on words...KNOWINGLY.. And he...does not even offer a counterpoint, just casually states his opnion that he does not believe KNOWINGLY, and yet,,,a new article from SEATTLE... Boeing Everett plant is close to Seattle...may insinuate something I am insinuating...in fact, I made my opinion from that article a while ago... Drew...if we cant discuss things, dont tell me...muzzle him... I GAVE PROOF ON HOW I FEEL THIS WAY... HE DID NOT!!! THAT IS TROLLING 101!!! YEAH! PHOQUE HIM!!!

Yeah... Drew came to your rescue...and you take it so you wont be looked at like a troll... What you may or may not know...troll... That the aircraft industry does NOT work that way... NEGLIGENCE is NOT part of the equation... When a plane goes down, NEGLIGENCE SHOULD NOT BE PART OF THE EQUATION... Certification of aircraft PREVENTS negligence and cost cutting...THAT is the mission of certification. Safety for the plane NOT to fail on information that we already know that have failed in the past... Past aircraft failures are part of the engineering process to prevent for future failures. And a software glitz with sensors that fail should have been detected in the certification process... When an aircraft fails, an FAA investigation tries to see if a new problem arises, not to correct a past failure...again... THAT is how aircraft investigations and certifications are made.... The article here... https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/ Once again, suggests that Boeing rushed the 737 Max 8 to sell because of a threat of market share loss to Airbus... And all the other articles I posted after the 2nd crash reveal something sinister in Boeing's management of the 737 Max 8. And the FAA too. believe what you wanna believe, troll... BUT DONT YOU PHOQUING QUESTION MY OPINION WHEN YOU DONT HAVE NOTHING ON YOUR END AGAIN!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN DREW GAVE YOU AN OUT JUST NOW!!! PHOQUE YOU!!!

of course you downvote @ccap41 You got nothing else on your trolling! Your actions and reactions speak louder than your words...