G. David Felt

@oldshurst442 I agree with the points you make on engine oil. The story is an interesting one as it also does hit on side notes of the shift to smaller engines. I would agree that the better the oil one uses, the longer the engine will last. Both my past SS and current Escalade, from the first oil change I have always used Mobil 1 synthetic and never had a problem or the Tick Tick Tick noise that is very common in my generation of Escalades, but that Tick goes away and is never heard when you use Mobile 1, but comes back right away with regular oil. I grew up in a household where maintenance was impressed on me from my dad and the importance of using quality parts even if they are not OEM. This has always allowed me to have auto's that easily outlast my time with them, 10 to 20 years for me.

R.I.P. I really liked this actor and especially in the Mortal Kombat series of Movies. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, actor in ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘The Man in the High Castle,’ dies at 75

With all the chat here on this socalled good looking guy, I decided to look it up, I barely remember this as it was in and out of the news. Luigi Mangione is the individual accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, 2024. Thompson was shot from behind as he was leaving an investor conference in Manhattan. Mangione faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder in state court and federal murder charges, which could potentially lead to the death penalty if convicted. Live updates: Luigi Mangione faces court year after CEO killing – NBC New York Seems the meeting was canceled about 45 minutes after the folks inside learned that the CEO was murdered. FACT CHECK: Did UnitedHealthcare Continue It’s Meeting After Learning Their CEO Was Killed? UnitedHealth Cancels Investor Day After CEO Is Fatally Shot | Kiplinger While there are many stories about the CEO being a good guy like this: UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: Investor day attendees shocked after Brian Thompson death | Fortune While in the same neighborhood, the wife and son lived separate from the Husband and father and there does seem to be questionable things about the CEO life. UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Separated from Wife at Time of Killing: Report Interesting read on this murderer. The Decline, Fall, and Unexpected Veneration of Luigi Mangione

Interesting observation is that this seems to be a partial matte paint job and I have plenty of coworkers who thought the matte paint jobs were cool and only after they bought the auto and read on it, discovered that you cannot run a matte paint job through a touch or touchless auto wash. They have to be hand washed. Paint jobs are terrible when you do not like to do things like hand wash your auto and cannot just run it through a auto wash. One coworker found a place that does hand wash detail jobs for matte paint and so he has resolved himself to pay $200 a month to have his matte painted auto washed and vacuumed. Crazy.

Agree, as I posted in the Random about the new Rivian Fast Charging station, range concerns are overblown imho. Most times when my wife drives down south or up north to deal with Family, if she forgets to charge at home, she will just do 80% as it is more than enough to get back home. She did one time just a charge to 50%, 9 min and then came home. The wife has gone from worrying about range anxiety to it is not an issue for her anymore. She drove the Escalade for the first time in a little over a year and found it so noisy and weird that it just did not move like her EV. Clearly will be an EV driver only.

18 minutes to 80% and 35 total minutes to get the 100%, we were in a Walmart doing shopping, so the extra time did not bother us, that last 20% is the longest time to get charged.

Very cool, January 9th 2026 the reveal will take place in Europe for Kia EV2 |Kia EV2 Teased, to Debut at Brussels Motor Show 2026 - Korean Car Blog

Road trip over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, had to do a single charge up at a ChargePoint station, went from 10% to 100% battery charge for $29.02 giving me a range of almost 320 miles. Overall was pretty cheap I felt for fueling. Self-driving continues to impress me, with the smart driving assist, it was pretty cool to just tap the turn signal, and the car does the rest for changing lanes. Continue to be impressed with Kia Software. Currently at 28,081 miles for 5 months shy of 2 years ownership.

Tonight Lexus reveals their all-new sports lineup of autos at 9pm Save the Date: Live Stream of All-New Sports Models World Premiere on December 5 - Lexus USA Newsroom

Yes, as much as I like sports cars like this, they do not fit this, German!