G. David Felt

Just looking around at all the lovely woman can keep one youthful! Having split my meniscuses pad in my knee, I now have to deal with daily the slow healing of the pad and the discomfort that comes from twisting the wrong way on my left knee and have it shoot pain up and down my leg or just want to give out. It sucks and now as such I am even more happy that I do not have a car that I have to get down into as an SUV makes it much more comfortable with my knee.

I would suggest he updates his thread with a good Love/Hate review of his Tour-X after 37,000 miles.

Are you talking about the Mirrors, Rims and the body trim pieces? How is being Gloss black bad when the paint job is a gloss paint job. It compliments it. This is no different than the glossy plastic front nose that Mercedes puts on and their god aweful grey aero rims they offer on the EQS where it is a 6 figure SUV with what clearly looks like cheap rims. Just like you, I can nitpick every EV from every manufacture, but the EV9 is clearly going to be a home run hit for Kia. This is one of many, but it seems Kia is guiding the auto industry for a pricing range of $55K to $70K fully loaded and I think based on what I saw it will sell just fine. 2024 Kia EV9 Price, Pictures, Release Date & More | Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) 2024 Kia EV9 Review, Pricing, and Specs (caranddriver.com) 2024 Kia EV9 Prices, Reviews, and Pictures | Edmunds

Very interesting read. https://www.topspeed.com/chevy-equinox-ev-vs-toyota-bz4x/

Today was a day of change, for almost 2 months I have been on a family home remodel project for my son and today he wanted to go check out the Kia EV9 that is making the rounds of the local Kia dealerships. My first impression was that Kia has nailed the traditional brick on wheels style of SUV that Americans should appreciate. I started at the front of the EV9 wanting to see the Frunk. Surprise, not as big as the F150 Lighting or GM's EV pickups but double, maybe even triple the size of what Tesla offers. While not real deep, you could have two bags of groceries on their side. Observation is under this frunk is where the 12V battery is located. From the back is where the cabin airfilter is located and I noticed it was a HEPA filter. Funny thing is that you can see on the left hand side an whiteish lever. This is an emergency frunk lid release. Not sure why they have one as I cannot think of any way a human could fit in this frunk even if they were part of the tiny or dwarf size humans. Interesting note that I wish I had taken a picture of was that in the very front deeper section, they had a NACS to CCS adapter. Surprised to already see one built by Kia. My son opened the front driver's door and I wished now I had taken a video of this as the steering column auto moves up out of the way and then after you get in and close the door, it returns to the position that is set. Very cool, I love this kind of tech where I do not have to adjust things once it is set. I did as you can see in this picture observe the issue that many folks have complained about on touch screens and that is all the fingerprints. David Size test commenced, I set the front passenger chair for my comfort and 3 inches between the front of my knees and the dash. I then got out and into the back seat and WOW, roomy and comfortable. This wins the 6'6" 300lb David test. Plenty of head, shoulder and girth room. This SUV will be a winner for many folks due to the roominess of this EV. As you can see by my left knee is a USB C port for connection to charge and connect to the internal media system. The 3 levers you see on the side of the seat are for upper seat comfort adjustments. Now one thing I was happy about was the heated and cooled seats in the front and back. Kia did some smart thinking here and that is where would be a good place to put the controls? They put them on the internal arm rest and this arm rest had additional thinking as many times when you adjust the back of the seat for relaxing the arm rest in many current SUVs today have limited fixed positions. Here you can pull the arm rest all the way up, go all the way down and then in micro adjustments pull it up till it is comfy for the seat occupant. Controls for the seat moving forward, up, down lumbar, etc. are the same for all four captain's chairs. On the right side bottom cushion. Have to say that while Kia will have a basic all black interior, they are offering as an upgrade multiple two-tone interiors and I really like this brown/black one in this unit. I did sit in the 3rd row split-bench seat and while I could get back there and had headroom, leg room kept me to the middle of this seat. I could make it work for a short ride, but it really is not an adult seating area. The next thing was to check out the back for storage behind the third seat as this is an issue I have seen even in ICE auto's where you either have enough for 6 to 8 bags of groceries or you have pretty much nothing. Kia has actually given a decent set of space where you could get two rows of 8 bags of groceries in terms of traditional paperbags. It of course gets even bigger with the third row of seats down. If you look at the picture with both third row seat areas up, you can see the controller below the European plug and that is four buttons that allow you to open or close the second and third row seats. So, for those running to Home Depot or Ikea and need to put something large in, you can easily do it all from the back and not have to move around to the different sides to do each seat. Decent storage was under the back lift cover. Better yet, while this was clearly told to me by the Kia sales folks that it was a pre-production model off the assembly line that will be producing the EV9s for Asian and European area, the fit n finish was some of the best I had seen. No info on pricing, but I was asked if I was interested in putting down a deposit to save a place in line for the EV. End result is that this Kia EV has way better fit n finish than current production Tesla and I suspect it will really give a run for its money to Tesla and other EV manufacturers. I have always stayed true to my roots and bought GM, Ford, Jeep and Dodge. The EV9 is a strong contender for a possible next auto in my household especially since like GM they are by default offering bi-directional power so that with the EV9 plugged into the home charger, you could power your home if you wanted when you have a power outage. Ask away any and all questions. Happy to Answer! View full article

I have found that SS Trailblazers come in two conditions, those of us that take care of the rare SS and those that trash them hard till they break and go to the junk yard. Lucky for me, I see them pretty much all the time here in the PNW and they all seem to be in very good shape.

Growing list of folks supporting NACS. More automakers plug into Tesla's EV charging network | Reuters

Seems the list keeps growing for EV NACS support. More automakers plug into Tesla's EV charging network | Reuters

So, my SS today decided to not have the right turn signal working. So, I did the normal thing since the SS has both a LF turn, and RT turn fuse, replace them both since they are original from 2008. Nope did not work, so I replaced the turn signal relay. Nope did not fix it either. Did a search and found in the SS forum that one member has had this issue and helped multiple others out as the SS Hazard relay powers the Turn signal relay and fuses. Usually, it is the right side that goes when the Hazard relay starts to die and sure enough if I turned on my hazards, only the left side of the auto blinked. So replaced the Hazard relay and all works now. $122 Hazard relay $42 Turn signal relay $0 cost as I had the 10amp fuses If I had gone to a GM dealership here, it would have cost me $250 troubleshooting fee and then $150 for the labor and the cost of the Hazard relay. So, I figure I saved myself $400 minus the $42 for the turn relay as they probably would not have changed it, but I am happy as I have new relays and fuses in all those places that had not been touched since 2008.

@oldshurst442 New BMW Style Concept Current 2023 M3 Style Current 2023 7 series Which one you like better?

Gotta Love this. Cadillac Buyers Are Getting Younger (gmauthority.com)

Very cool C8 Corvette Z06 Drag Races Manual 1,000-HP Cadillac CT5-V Blacking, Someone Gets Schooled - autoevolution

IAA Mobility 2023 International Motor Show in Munich, is going on in Germany and BMW and Mercedes launched their new EVs and so we start with BMW. BMW reinvents itself: The BMW Vision Neue Klasse. (bmwgroup.com) Have to say that I like the new BMW style, away from the HUGE KIDNEY grill approach. Mercedes has launched their EQE SUV and Sedan special Edition. ENGLISH: EQE Sedan and EQE SUV now available as Edition Special models with extensive equipment and attractive price advantage - Mercedes-Benz Media Mercedes is saying they are the first in moving their next-generation MMA production to a Digital First production process. Mercedes-Benz pioneers ‘Digital First’ production for next-generation MMA platform - Mercedes-Benz Media Production debut: Mercedes-Benz factories in Rastatt (Germany), Kecskemét (Hungary) and Beijing (China) to produce new MMA (Mercedes Modular Architecture) models from the middle of the decade. New production techniques created within the MO360 digital ecosystem Ramp-up accelerated: Virtual Ramp-Up of new halls and systems thanks to the use of digital twin of production developed with NVIDIA Omniverse Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) in production: Continual updating of vehicle software during production via the Mercedes Intelligent Cloud – Rastatt serves as the blueprint Data democratization: Production employees use ChatGPT for data processing with the MO360 Data Platform Artificial intelligence (AI): Improves efficiency in paint shops: Rastatt plant achieves energy savings of 20 % in the energy-intensive topcoat process

I found this product in Australia. Looking for it here in the U.S. as this is perfect for what I need for my backyard. Love the retaining wall with built in fence connection. If anyone finds a US supplier please let me know. Back to the Auto thing, it is amazing that people bitch about the new EVs being too big. Chevrolet Equinox EV Government Images Emerge In China Ahead Of US Launch (insideevs.com) The comments are just befuddling.

Yes, some are unable to handle the future with EVs as we move forward, and he wanted to stay in the past.

Yes, sight changes suck as at 56 years of age, my near sightedness has strangely gotten better and my farsightedness that was never a problem is now worse, and I have my first pair of progressive bifocals.

Yup, never understood having rims equal to the sidewall of a tire getting all scuffed up, but then most people seem to have no sense of their auto size, corners, etc. Sadly, my daughter is one that parallel parking is a hardship for her. So, I taught her in her 4x4 Durango to put the front tire up on the curb, then slowly drop it off so she is close. Never had a problem since then driving in the city and having to parallel park. She also has not scuffed the rims yet either.

Generac as well as all the other options I have researched from Home Depot and Lowes have such high maintenance. My sister got a Generac connected to her house and it auto kicks in when they have power outages which is very nice, but every 24hrs they have to add oil to the system and according to Generac this is normal due to the natural gas generator runs. Then they have to every 3 days if still on the generator do an oil change. Seems to be such high maintenance for a backup compared to the F150 Hybrid or EV bi-directional power option. Course Generac is much cheaper than the auto cost. So figuring when I do go EV, Hyundai/Kia/GM/Ford are my options right now as the Bi-Directional is a requirement for the wife and I.

Still getting pop up ads, but clicking follow did add a new icon onto my phone and I now have this quick access point.

This is what I see on my phone from the 3 dots in chrome. Latest versions of everything. I did click the follow cheers and gears so it changed to say following, but no install app option.

Yes, I have also noticed that this week that I now get pop up ads and ads all over. Not sure if the latest update changed something, but hopefully @Drew Dowdell can update us on this. I also cannot seem to get the app. Very frustrating.

Wife and I have been talking about EV or Hybrid for this very reason, the ability to run the house when we lose power. Last year's snowstorm with power out for 3 days really sucked.

GMC Acadia AT4 Rocks What I like: Stance of this SUV, looks rugged, looks like a perfect tool to get around the PNW. Dark grill, tired of all the chrome on the Denali, which is Chrome Overload. Style is right on Green house is well proportioned ground clearance is excellent Front hood proportions is good even if this was an EV, it would have a great FRUNK Proper placement of the center top hood antenna Quad exhaust looks great Rim to tire proportions look good What I dislike: I know it is for crash safety, but belt line is a bit high for me D pillar looks like a major blind spot, I know for roll over protection probably Plastic wheel well with reflectors I am just not feeling as I think it looks awkward Interior is nice, but I really hope they offer more choices than the bloody damn BLACK only Interior Plastic rear bumper looks like it could easily be pulled off if caught on something when off-roading HATE the Chrome strip across the rear bumper Wish the plastic reflectors in the bumper would have led illumination. Over all, I like the stance, look of this SUV, but there are things that I just do not like as stated and a few more.

Wish they would build it like that, but I doubt it, not SUV enough. Sadly that as an EV would ROCK!