oldshurst442

1. When I was a kid, you put a big V8 or a Corvette engine or something in a ’32 Ford and now kids are starting to do electric hot-rodding. They’re still making the car go faster but it’s an electric engine instead of an internal-combustion engine. I think electrification is going very well,” he said. “It’s a natural extension of what’s been happening 2. When I came to Los Angeles in the 1970s, there were 160 days a year when they told you not to go outside because the pollution was so bad. Now, here it is 40 years later, you have easily five to 10 times the number of cars with less than a tenth of the pollution. “I mean, it’s not the cleanest air in the world, obviously, but it’s way better, and we don’t have smog days anymore when they tell you not to go outside and not to exercise. I mean, it’s all good. I mean, I’m one of those people who believes that engineers will save the world While yes...when you want to close your eyes and ears to a future NOT involving EVs...then yeah...you could say that engineers and politicians with CAFE standards have GREATLY reduced the smog in Los Angeles...and its the ICE vehicle that did that...so therefore...you discredit by saying stuff like this: Because...even in your own post....you even mention it...not realizing it what you just said... ZERO EMISSION ones... ZERO EMISSION... THIS is how I made MY connection with engineers and saving the planet and EVs... And I think THIS is where HE was going with it too... Everything else is dis-ingenuousness... Including if we think that ICE is the way to go for our future going forward in NOT polluiting our planet even further... Yes...no matter what humans do...we will always pollute... But the goal is to reduce our footprint... YOU said it yourself ZERO EMISSION... Yes...yes... Batteries are not all that clean. They are cleaner than the gases that ICE vehicles spew...

Wrong answer.

Part of that reason is the overall consumer's perception of Cadillac versus...lets say...Lexus. (Given Cadillac's missteps of the past...haunting Cadillac over and over and over again) Another reason is the marketing bullshyte that some manufacturer's marketing department spews over and over and over again about depreciation...again...lets say...Lexus...so the overall perception of Lexus versus Cadillac favours Lexus... A 10 year old daily driven car in Quebec that has over 150 000 miles, no matter what brand and make it is, is worth the same...to me at least... Because it will have the same rust issues, the same wear and tear on its steering and suspenions due to shytty, pot holed roads... So...whether you buy a 80 000 dollar Cadillac, Mercedes...or a 20 000 dollar Ford or Honda, or a 40 000 dollar Buick, Volvo...after 10 years daily driven in Montreal, for me at least, will be worth at most 2000 dollars... That is why I dont look at used cars in Quebec... Depreciation is great...like you said.... I could get a great deal on a used 3-4 year old Mercedes... But why would I wanna do that? I would rather buy a new car...the same price as that 3-4 year old Mercedes...a brand new Ford... I dont value badges... I value NEW...

Is that the message you got from that?

https://www.wheels.ca/news/jay-leno-auto-collection/ A car guy...JAY LENO... HE sees it... HE tells it like it is... THERE IS A MESSAGE in that little paragragh. SEVERAL messages...its up to you guys to figure it out... But the message is LOUD and CLEAR to what I JUST SAID and Jay Leno backs me up!!! In fact....Jay Leno made me realize it.... Him and others... No politician....no whack job scientist for or against climate change... But real deal people that have an idea of what is going on... Some of those are car guys, some of them are scientists with no clear bias...for and against climate change...because I listen to all...but these guys I listen to ONLY present the facts...NOT their opinions... And its easy for me to figure out...because I am informed... But hey... lets continue the way we are going...nothing bad could happen, right?

Yeah...I figured as much...

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...