oldshurst442

I guess climate change is not real. OK...climate change IS real, but NOT because of humanity...because the history of the planet tells us that its just a normal part of the Earth's life cycle I guess its foolish to think that humans could influence millions of years of Earth's evolution... But then again...humans could actually create life...the way Earth created life millions of years ago...and it only took humans a mere 10 000 years to accomplish that...so yeah...its foolish to think that humans could interfere with Earth's life cycles...(sarcasm) EVs...are just a part of a solution that humans think is the right thing to do...with the information we have today. JUST like how we used to kill whales for their blubber to make oil to heat our houses and we saw that this was not a good solution to keeping us warm when we discovered oil... NOW...oil is becoming the focus so we do NOT extinct ourselves... JUST like how we used to use paper bags for our groceries and saw that we are killing our forests...we banned that practice for plastic, but now was saw that THAT solution is not good, se we are reverting back to...paper... And THAT last one seems like a good argument for oil usage for our cars...but... ICE pollutes... Whether we like it or not... ICE pollutes... There is no: We gotta find a BETTER solution for our transportation needs... I stand by that comment whether anyone wants to agree with it or not... But...I got Los Angeles, Beijing, Athens, London on my side... SMOG from ICE...

ICE no longer works for reasons that you will never want to admit too. And if you analyze in hindsight...what horses can do...a little manure on the street is preferable than all the shyte that comes out of that tailpipe, regardless of how far and clean gasoline engines have become for 2019...

Not with that drivetrain... But...ya'll gotta admit. The average Lexus owner does not care about that stuff. While the drivetrain is antiquated, the average Lexus owner believes in this mantra: "If it aint broke, dont fix it." Reliable? I dont know enough about Toyota SUV products to comment on that. But I do know that there are certain SUVs from Toyota that are bullet proof. Again...the same mantra goes for reliability regarding Lexus owners: "If it aint broke, dont fix it." So...while we can argue about passionately about Lexus products...their business model is passionless...and it works just fine for them. What I find Lexus is missing the mark, is they want to infuse a little bit of passion in their designs and Predator Face just falls flat...

Since when did talking about a Lexus product become soooo....passionate?

No different than having a factory wing on a 1999 Olds Alero Or on a 442. Maybe on the 442, it hindered aerodynamics rather it being neutral. Its for looks. (On MOST rides) The front part of the car above is boy racer, but functional...the rear part of the car...is purely for looks. Nothing wrong with that as it compliments the look and feel for what the Trans Am (Firebird/Firehawk)wants to pass of as. Same with the Olds 442. And Mustang. On the Alero though, it makes NO SENSE at all as the Alero went for a sophisticated, luxury look. I had a 1999 Alero coupe GLS...with that rear spoiler...HATED the spoiler. I understand what you are saying. I agree with it. To a point. I wanted to explain to you and others that care to read my post that on certain cars, rear spoilers, whether functional or not, work out, for others, not so much! For the record: On a regular ecoboost Mustang or GT, a spoiler free rear works best for me too!!!

I also like the 2 Series. Strangely enough, I like it because its the only BMW currently for sale that captures what BMW is was all about. I was never a fan of the BMW experience but it seems I always go against the grain with what is popular for BMW. I always like the opposite of what BMW produces that is popular for the most part.

OK... About this bespoke M car from BMW. This car came to mind I dont think a bespoke M car will revive the fire of M cars. I think BMW did too many M versions of CUVs and SUVs that watered down the image. I think their 5 Series and 3 Series cars became tooo bloated for the M version of those to actually mean something also... Add to the fact that the generations of folk that bought vehicles AFTER the 1990s dont care for performance and what you got now is an M brand down in the dumps... Good luck BMW, but you wanted to sell Sports Activity Vehicles to peoples...and forgot what got you great in the first place. Oh well...

edited... before my time for editing was up...and I changed it up so I dont insult you too much....before you go crying to Drew...

At least you got that far.... Question is... Did. You. u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d ? Maybe I should write in the style of Dr Seuss for you? To keep you happy and focused?

If we are going to take this literally, a vehicle is an inanimate object. Therefore passion is non-existent by definition. So...literally speaking...if one wants emotion for his/her transportation, then a horse or donkey or camel is the only way to go... If...we are going to humanize inanimate objects...then it doesnt really matter what we find passionate. We get it, you dont like electric power for whatever dumb ass reason... And I respect your stance on you not finding electric power passionate... But Tesla owners ARE passionate about their cars...so you maybe, for you and you only, electric cars are not passionate, That statement is false...in more than one way... So down vote this post to your heart's content and tell me there are too many words in it for you to read and understand...

On the flip side Those brakes (both disc and pads) are not "blingy" enough (for the riciest version A-Spec) and on top of all that...I find they are too small as well(both disc and pads) for performance requisites...but I'm sure they do an adequate job of stopping. Im OK with fake hood scoops and blingy, over the top, boy racer styling....if they compliment the look and feel of the car. If it the car (factory or custom) has a certain (boy) racer look about it, and mission, and go-fast, bolt-on high performance parts are put unto the car and to compliment that look further, boy racer accessories are added...Im all for it!!!

Yeah... Cash is dirt... You stick to that logic....Ill stick to working hard in my restaurant, Im making good coin. Honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Ill keep my depreciating currency tucked into my mattress. You could invest it in NASDAQ or wherever you want... And when the Bernie Madoffs and the Jordan Belfort's of the world crash your party...selling you the worthless printed paper that is NOT currency promising you champagne dreams and caviar wishes, Ill be OK with the little cash Ive got in hand, buying me bread to eat...shyte...because I dont need a home of 8 figures...Ill be MORE than OK buying myself tomato seeds to grow my tomatoes, along with that bread and Ill survive... Even with a depreciating asset like cash...because I undersatnd what you wanna say...Ill have enough money to eat bread, tomatoes and olive oil. Its enough to survive... Its not like eating a cup of noodles everyday...but hey...Im Greek, olive oil is our thing... PS: Those crooks...they keep a stash of cash hidden...THAT should tip you off...

yeah...but I explained it further in my post though... Cash...is always king. Id rather have it in cash. If not all in the banks, if not all invested somewhere, because money can be lost in banks and in investments... Cash is king...I prefer to hide some of it under my mattress so to speak... To make it grow? Properties could be bought and sold all the time... Property that you live in, you use as a permanent residence...should NEVER be treated like a commodity... Buying, flipping and selling properties, houses and businesses....yes! Your own residence....never.

We were discussing value and how far we could go with our dollar, right? yeah...just like Ill NEVER buy a 6 figure car (I could affford one, I just never in my right mind spend that much...on a DEPRECIATING asset...) will ever buy an 8 figure house...no matter how big, or small it is... Yeah...I could do soooooo much more with my life with 8 figures than dumping it on a house. Yeah...even if I was a celebrity of some sort. I aint no hippy, no green advocate of saving the planet. Look at my signature....its a dirty ole big cubed V8 doing a burnout... But...8 figures is a lot of money that I could do sooooo much with it. Help my community. Help my fellow man. A house in Montreal that is 8 figures is as big as a Costco. Im only 5 feet 6 and a half inches tall. Im not fat. I got 1 wife and 2 kids. Both parents have passed on. I dont need a living quarters THAT big. Ill need maybe 2 houses when I retire. 1 in Montreal and 1 in a hot place so I could avoid the ice and snow. But I definitely dont need mansions. Ill need a space to live with my wife and kids when they visit big enough so as I dont trigger my clausterphobia that I got....but I dont need an 8 figure home... 99.9% of it will be NEVER be occupied anyway... This would be an American problem... In Canada, in Montreal...even the worst public school is decent. A little bit of hard work from the student and a little bit of help and support BY THE PARENTS...and Montreal kids CAN and DO very well for themselves... The worst of the private schools in Montreal...are just a waste of money...

Yeah...that is what I saw too...1280 sq ft. for seven figures Holy shyte!!! I was in love with the California dream in the 1980s, through movies and song. I loved the Beach Boys then. Some movies that I saw featuring the Beaches, the Blondes...the fun fun fun in the sun til your daddy takes the T-Bird away. But...I got over it. I dont know why exactly. But those high prices of houses dont help...

Those are crazy assed prices... I get it... its California...

Moot point as the CT6 will not be sold to be used as taxis. This is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. The E Class as a taxi is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. Its just a thing. But...you seem to take pleasure for saying its a rugged vehicle this E Class, yet you get your panties in a twist when somebody says that the E Class is like a Chevy Caprice... In THIS case..YOU yourself compare it to Ford Crown Vic... Dont tell me, that Mercedes Benz sells a "ton" more "luxury" vehicles than Cadillac then... Because YOU cant have it both ways... An E Class taxi is NOT a luxury car....Its a Ford Crown Vic. A North American 60 000 dollar E Class is like a Lincoln Town Car... The difference is that in Europe...Mercedes (E Class) is sold like a Ford, a Mercury and a Lincoln all into one model as where in North America, the E Class is like a Mercury and Lincoln. In North America...FoMoCo had 3 brands....Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. 3 models on 1 platform doing what the E Class does... Ford Crown Vic Mercury Grand Marquis Lincoln Town Car Your arguments always mish mash the reality of things... Mercedes does sell a lot of cars. Its just that all those cars are not ALL luxury... In the 1980s...the S Class equivalent was ALSO sold like a Chevrolet and Ford in Europe... Yeah...we could do GM in this too. Chevrolet Bel Air/Impala/Caprice Pontiac Parisienne Oldsmobile Delta 88/98 Buick Le Sabre Cadillac Fleetwood Mercedes bunches up all those sales...because in fact, its one model for the whole world, but we think that because in North America, an E Class AMG is for sale....we think that ALL E Class sold all over the world are of the AMG version... But GM and Ford dont bunch up all their platform mates sales...because different models....logical... But when we say that Ford or Chevy sold 200 000 Crown Vic or Caprices, we NEVER think to add another 50/60/70 thousand to that tally for their respective platform mates. And THIS is where MY argument comes into play...where I mention that an E Class outside of North America is like a Chevy Caprice in Europe and the proud Mercedes/BMW/Audi lover bets his panties in a twist... So...I repeat... What is your point? That an E Class is rugged? It sure is. But in North America, the luxury version...the one with all the electronics....not so much... Was a Caprice of the 1980s rugged? You bet your ass it was!!! Same for the Fleetwood... The Fleetwood was deemed to old fogey by some folk that resembled YOUR type of mindset...that American cars suck... Hence why you are on pushing the E Class is rugged argument in THIS thread. I dont doubt it one bit. But the E Class that is sold as luxury, has its problems.... A taxi in Greece, not so many problems...maybe... But the E Class in North America is not sold as a taxi now is it? Prolly have less problems if it was sold only as a taxi...maybe... But what is it? Is the E Class a luxury car or is it a taxi? Is it both? Ill let you decide that on your own...but please, in the near future...please refrain from having double standards...

In today's world... Where producing horsepower is not a problem anymore. I mean, our automotive engineers have it all figured out and they have a formula and technique to get any horsepower they want out of any configuration and cylinder count that is wanted and needed. So...knowing that our roads are congested, knowing that our roads are crumbling and not safe to drive fast on, knowing that law enforcement is ever so strict in enforcing our very conservative speed limits on our roads and they do this because our populations are growing ever so fast so it does become a very dangerous action if we do speed over the speed limit. Is it really all that important to have high horsepower appliances anymore? Its great on our sports cars...but even them, its for bragging rights because all that power will probably never be used on public roads safely... If the answer is no. Then what horsepower number for our appliance vehicles is appropriate for our roads? Just a question.

By AMORTIZING depreciating assets properly...you get the most for your money... If you wanna be calculating to see what is the best way....then dealing in absolutes... (we dont do this or we never do that) will NEVER get you the most for your dollar. You live in sunny California... Maybe the ocean does rust your vehicles through the salty water breeze...but seeing that I visit Greece and its islands often enough, I dont see 5 year old cars with rust on them. Shyte....I dont see 15-20 year old Greek cars with rust on them. My wife's 2013 Ford Fusion's undercarriage is rusty...not holey....but rusty. 6 year old car. Well maintained. But...the salt used on our snowy Montreal roads will do that to a car. As you could see...long term survivability for cars in the North East...in the snow belt of North America...phoques up cars real bad, so...moot point about depreciation. Oh sure...one could buy a 10 year old Cadillac, Mercedes, Honda for peanuts...but what condition would it be in? Is it really worth the cheap price when it will probably not be reliable? And I aint talking about it stalling on you...but with rust issues....will it lose a bloody wheel on you doing 65 mph on the highway? Because, you really dont know how well the previous owner(s) kept their car... Housing is a whole 'nother subject. Ive seen many families buy 50 year old houses, on the high side of price, thinking they bought a gem...only to waste a good chunk of change demolishing and gutting because...problems... Ive seen plenty of families buy 50 year old houses on the cheap...thinking they bought a decent fixer upper...only to waste a good chunk of change demolishing and gutting because...problems... Now...the headaches of things breaking on you in the middle of the night or even finding good contractors...hopefully they respect their deadlines, hopefully they dont botch the job... Repairing or even renovating your home...your home being in a mess...lat minute breaks...and you cant even stay in your own home...renting a motel room... IS all that worth buying a used home? Because all that I mentioned is a real possibility. Ive seen it happen COUNTLESS of times. Not that buying new is a the ONLY way... But like I said...when someone deals in absolutes... I never do this and I never do that...will only give you heartache... Even if it actually is cheaper buying pre-owned....sometimes peace of mind is PRICELESS!!! I aint saying buying new is peace of mind...Im saying you gotta do your homework...new versus old in that moment with a particular object in THAT moment in time...peace of mind is priceless. But buying an old home...if you dont gut her entirely...you just dont know... Hell...same goes for a car...

I would buy a car new. A Cadillac. A Lincoln. A Mercedes Benz. Whatever car I choose to buy new if its the car I want to buy, its something that I could afford and if its really the money I wouldnt mind departing with. If I cant afford a certain car...Ill buy a less expensive one...new. If I could afford a certain car, but I dont necessarily want to depart with that kind of dough, yet again...Ill buy a less expensive one...new. Everything depreciates. Even houses when not taken care of... One does NOT buy a depreciating asset thinking they will lessen the blow by buying that same depreciating asset used. Yes...one COULD do that... Its a personal thing... But its also what you value. I dont value a used car...no matter what badge it has.... To me...its used. I value a NEW car...even if that NEW car is of a "lesser" badge... I PREFER to be the FIRST owner of MY brand NEW car... Because its MY car. To me...buying a used car...pre-owned...whatever positive spin slogan you wanna use...to me...a used car will never feel like its MINE. Ive owned used cars in my life. Hey...they got me from point A to point B. THAT is ALL that matters. But I also have bought new... Crappy, base model 2009 Mazda 3 with roll up windows...new. I could have bought something used that was a tad more luxurious...but you know what? That crappy, base model 2009 Mazda 3 was MINE... (wife's actually) It was MY baby. I got to soil it first. (use your imagination on this, boys....) Ive had a discussion about depreciation before with @dwightlooi but I didnt feel like answering back... When depreciation is mentioned...on depreciating assets...I NEVER hear the word amortizing... When someone buys a new...depreciating a asset (or used)...one has to look at his finances...he has to be HONEST with himself...and has to AMORTIZE that depreciating asset accordingly. One HAS to factor in the losses. And if he is COMFORTABLE financilly and MENTALLY about losing money on DEPRECIATING assets...then buying new WILL never affect him!!! THIS is what I meant @dwightlooi that depreciation does NOT affect me. I dont care what money my new car will be worth down the road.... I have factored in my usage for the car, the wear and tear on it...I will drive it and maintain it....I WILL be saving money for a NEW car also 5-6-7-8-9-10 years down the road to replace it....and when the car has done its duty serving me, and when its repairs are no longer worth it for me to keep her because now...I have also saved enough money to replace it with an EQUAL valued vehicle, then the car I bought new 5-6-7-8-9-10 years ago, will now be ready for replacement. Ive replace a new car after 6 years. I guess I could have leased. But my life changed and I needed a sedan. 6 years was maybe a tad too short for me to have amortized it properly, but I was single and have saved money for the first 2-3 years of buying the Alero so I had money for a new car anyway. Now I was married with a kid on the way, so the Alero coupe had to go. I bought an Impala... THIS is how it was done a loooong time ago. THIS is how I was taught to buy cars. (by my dad) I aint saying its the only way... Im only saying its the only way...for me! Hey...leasing is a great way to get your butt into a car. Hey...with all those used cars on the market of having 10 million cars plus sold each and every year...its also a GREAT way to get yourself that dream car you always wanted on the cheaper way of getting your butt in a car... I just dont like doing it that way. I like...new car smell...

Not rare. Not in Greece. E Class Taxis are preferred. Yes, like you said. Durable. Nothing wrong with that. But...when North American badge snobs try to snub Chevrolets and Fords BECAUSE of their high livery services, I tend to give the same argument back regarding German so called luxury vehicles. An E Class in Europe is no different that an Epsilon Impala. The equivalent E Class of the 1970s and 1980s was no different than a RWD B Body Impala/Caprice/Bel Air. If you could live with that comparison and reality, we all good. If not, maybe you are the problem and not me.... (Please keep in mind that when I say "you", I mean it in a general way, not YOU personally...)

Nope. Greece uses E Class for Taxis too... E Class...is like a Chevy when optioned out like one... In fact, a Chevy Impala LTZ or Premier, is better equipped, has a more luxurious interior than a mid tier E Class... They do sell bare bones E Class in Greece... I do not know about the rest of Europe including Germany, but Ive seen 2018 E Class taxis in Greece first hand last year...

I had a FLASHBACK to Much Music HONEYMOON SUITE I was hooked on those 3 songs! (Canuck Rock RULES!!!)

yeah... By the mid-80s, everytime Pop Goes The World or Safety Dance would come on or finish, the DJ would ALMOST ALWAYS say "Montreal's own..." Yes! It was fun! MTV...up here in Montreal...we did not get MTV until much much later. We got... Much Music. Which was not like MTV. On the plus side, we also got the French version: Musique Plus. Which made up for not having MTV...

I was always painfully aware. I dont know how popular this group was or how popular Safety Dance was outside of Montreal and Canada (apparently the song was like super popular) but that song never stopped playing on Montreal pop radio in the 1980s. Hey...I was a young boy when the song came out. I liked it. I loved it even. But by the time I became a teenager...you. know..enough is enough!!! They had another cute hit. Pop Goes the World. This song didnt get the same amount of airplay as Safety Dance, but it played enough times for me to HATE HATE HATE it nowadays. I liked it then though...when I was a young boy. Outside of those 2 songs...not much else that I know of. They made a song called Sideways. I liked it. But I dont think it faired to well...