ccap41

Yeah, when all of that needs to be done regardless of one or two, just do both. I would have done the same.

Ouch $1500 makes me feel much better, Hahahaha. I didn't realize how much more labor intensive a solid axel wheel bearing job was compared to IRS. So did you do both at the same time just because it would save you money if your other one went out soon thereafter? Ya know, in hindsight, I should have had an indicator it was a wheel bearing issue or at least something mechanical, when they did my tire inspection for Nitto. They said the passenger rear had a little more wear on the inside than the rest of the tires. Right then it should have hit me that something is off. On a little side note, I got so used to how loud my car had gotten and my wife's G isn't exactly quiet itself, being a box on wheels, we rode with my wife's parents to dinner a couple weeks ago and their GL550 was damn near whisper quiet. I literally looked at my wife and said something along the lines of, "how is this so damn quiet?!?" Hahaha It really isn't quieter than most anything else, I was just so used to how loud our vehicles were.

Maybe the worst part about it is the name, Label Red. Not Red Label. Label Red. 🤣 Actually, I don't think it's toooo awful looking. I much prefer the light gold tone they use around the grille instead.

I'm right at 79,000 miles now buuuut they should have been done about 15,000 miles ago. ~65,000 miles seems premature for wheel bearings to go out but it is what it is. I didn't realize wheel bearing howl was a thing but I certainly do now! Do you remember what your wheel bearing job cost you? for just one it's $700. I've looked up the parts and that's only like $150-ish. I know you need special tools otherwise my dad and I would have attempted to tackle it. $700 seems pretty high but I didn't feel like calling around and comparing because the last time I did it, everywhere else was within a few bucks of each other as they all much use the same labor rates and times. Plus, at least this way I know it's Ford parts instead of somewhere charging me about the same and getting a cheaper part.

Very good demonstration. They really are nearly identical. I guess I'm wrong with the proportions of the 3. I still like it more and I think it has to do with the much lower front facia and hood. The S still has the long hood though. While it's old, I still think it's a very attractive looking car.

This is very "okay" looking. It's almost exactly how I saw the Passat. It's extremely inoffensive and quite boring but also not bad in any way. It's just... "okay". I'd drive one. Personally, I strongly disagree about Tesla. The 3 and S are still very attractive cars, even thought they're pretty old now. They have the traditional RWD proportions that this just does not have.

Speaking of wheel bearings, I'm having my passenger rear wheel bearing replaced this morning. My dumb@ss has never had a wheel bearing go so I didn't know this buuuuut, I've been driving on a bad wheel bearing for probably 12-15,000 miles and over a year. I'll explain myself but I should have looked further into it. So I went about 10,000 miles on my second tire rotation and I thought I had wore the tires into a bad state because they were humming pretty loud. Like, really loud actually. I figured I'd just rotate them more often to regulate the wear on them. All of this while the tires always looked in really good condition. There was no feathering, cupping, uneven wear, nothing. Right then I should have known to look further but the noise I heard literally just sounded like tire noise. I even made a claim through Nitto because they advertise the tires to be quite, I've had them rotated(even though one interval was pretty long) and they were wearing evenly. I had to take it to a NTB and have them inspected and they said everything was good and they won't warranty them out due to noise. I understood that and didn't throw a fit but was still a little disappointed in the tires being so fckn loud. Welllll, last weekend I drove one of my best friends home and he asked what the noise was. I said the tires and explained to him the BS. He said he was pretty sure that sounded like a bad wheel bearing. Right then I was like, holy sh!t, I didn't even consider this anything mechanical. Sooooo Monday I took the MKC to my local Ford dealership and explained to them the noise and what was going on. They took it in yesterday and sure as hell, it was a bad passenger rear wheel bearing. I dealt with that for over a year, probably about 15,000 miles worth. First, that's extremely dangerous but, in my defense, nothing ever felt off or weird driving. That's why I never thought it was anything mechanical. Second, I feel bad for throwing Nitto under the bus for my own negligence. Third, if you could understand the noise this created, you'd be like "why wouldn't you have done ANYTHING about this sooner?!?" From the inside it literally sounded like I had mud terrain tires on it. Wellll, $700 later and I should have the comfort back in my MKC that I ought to have. Wow, that turned into a story/rant... Hahaha

Ahhh that's it. That makes sense then. While the government manages to make so many mistakes (regardless of party affiliation) I strongly believe this was a GREAT thing they've done here. Forcing to keep manufacturing here in the US and incentivizing it, is great. I bet we would all almost guarantee none of these battery manufacturing plants would be being built here in the US had this not been a thing. They'd all import their batteries from cheap labor countries.

The hybrid Pacifica and Aviator getting a full $7500 is pretty surprising. I didn't know they gave that much for hybrids. Buuuut the 4Xe Jeeps only get $3750.

Is that what the previous Edge/Nautilus were on or is this an all-new transition? I'm actually really surprised it's on the Escape-platform. Good to know they're able to use an existing platform and amortize that.

I hate the XT6 so damn much. For the great engineering GM put into the CT-cars, they couldn't have done a more badge-job than the XT6. It's the closest thing to putting lipstick on a pig in the automotive world as it gets. I know I'm a Lindoln/Ford fan and Lincoln did the same trash 10 or so years ago. But, they've vastly changed and all Lincolns have at least an engine option the comparable Ford doesn't get.

I thought that was just the engine itself. I must have missed the vehicles itself "added lightness" This is what I was only thinking of. Ahhh that's understandable. I'm sure it's fine, it just looks a little funky. It's a comfy, lazy CUV. While it would be nice, it's completely unnecessary for Lincoln to do this. It definitely sounds more expensive to reconfigure the Aviator/Explorer platform than update what it was already on. Lincoln doesn't sell enough to dump too much money into it. I highly doubt if they went RWD their sales would just double to pay for the engineering.

The powertrain options are quite underwhelming, to say the least. I get this isn't some performance CUV but it got larger with the same base engine(making less torque) and no real "big engine" anymore. I'm sure the hybrid moves sufficiently enough though. The dash is interesting. It's probably just how it's all shaped but it looks like it sits high and would be tough to see over. I'm sure that's just an illusion because dashes just aren't shaped like this. The two spoke steering wheel...weird. Not necessarily bad but, it's weird looking. Why is it slightly squared?

That's pretty much what it is all about. There just wasn't anything found, no crash site, no anything really. There were later small pieces found floating ashore but, I won't spoilt anything for you.

I know you're doing your short-term comparisons but the Model Y is still $11,000 more than when it came out. So that $13,000 drop from last year still doesn't cover it's original starting price in 2018. It was originally priced at $39,000 and now it starts at $49,990. Nothing is anywhere near as cut and dry as you're making it seem with Tesla. They change so much with their pricing and packaging even quarterly.

You keep missing a key factor here and that's consumer demand. They can have all the capacity in the world but they still need buyers for these. With Teslas stale portfolio, there's no way that demands is sustainable over an infinite amount of time. I doubt Americans are wanting a vehicle built from outside the US and to just spend $7500 more.

More equipment doesn't make them more affordable. They cost more than 20% more to buy. Period. Add in taxes on that 20% and it's even worse...

Well, 1 million is still less than what Tesla did last year, 1.31m. I thoroughly believe GM will surpass Tesla in total sales but I don't think it'll happen by 2025. That's a hell of a lot of production and sales to pop up in less 3 years. There's just no way that growth can happen just in the industry itself. Even if they did have the production capacity to hit 1.5m throughout 2025, the demand also has to be there.

More like >20% for everything that isn't an S Class. EQS SUV & GLS EQS SUV: 104,400 minus 20% would be: 83,520 GLS: 81,800 EQE Sedan & E Class EQE Sedan: 74,900 minus 20% would be: 59,920 E Class: 56,750 EQB & GLB EQB SUV: 52,750 minus 20% would be: 42,200 GLB: 39,800 EQE SUV & GLE EQE SUV: 77,900 minus 20% would be: 62,320 GLE: 57,700 Every one of those is greater than 20% higher than their ICE sibling.

I'll be curious how these same exact Teslas sell once they're all 10-15 years old, because there hasn't been a peep out about any all new refreshes or anything. Also, your numbers seem pretty insane. You know this, right? You think they'll just flip a switch this year and add 500k units of production AND demand immediately follows suit? Also, 1.8 +0.5 = 2.3, not 2.5. 300,000 unit's is significant here. I'm not sure what your Mexico-plant sentence is supposed to say. I think we can all agree that Tesla saying they'll have an all-new 25k model is just magic dust until they ACTUALLY start production. Everything they've come out with brand new has had YEARS of delays before they're in customers' hands. So I don't think the legacy manufacturers are all that worried about a 25k Tesla until there's something tangible there, not just words. Where'd you get your 25,000 units number from? Just curious.

I don't think any of the legacy automakers will have enough production up and running by 2025 to even do this, even if they have the product portfolio.

Yeah, the rear pretty much has the same exact issue going on.. It just sucks to look at. That's disappointing to me because I'm on board with EVs and I've pretty much loved the S Class since 2000.. but their blend of those two things is just horrible.

I think that leads to the jellybean styling though so, I kind of agree with him there. While it isn't the entire issue with their aesthetics, I think it's a big part in how it's all shaped together. If you brought that down it would look much more S Class-like, which I think everybody agrees is an attractive shape. Also, sorry for the garbage drawing on the EQS, I can't smoothly navigate a mouse to draw for the life of me. Hahaha

So it's more of an "everybody has an issue" type of thing, right? The only truly reasonably priced EVs are the Bolt, Bolt EUV and Leaf. Everything else is pretty insane for the size of vehicle you're getting.

Okay, so already more steps involved... This is starting exactly how I would expect it.