SAmadei

First, I don't feel the ad should be pulled, and I have not advocated that the ad should be pulled. I was ONLY bringing up the ad as a basis for discussion. The feedback I have gotten will probably deter me from starting future discussions, apparently the only petty things people want to discuss on C&G is the texture of the dashboard plastic. That said, in the legalese I must sign to enter my local Pick-a-Part (and most other P-a-Ps I've been to), concealment of a part is theft. He put the part in his pocket. Finally, its not a $10 shift knob... with the exception of a few cheap knock-offs, these are $75-$170 on eBay.

Hardly does it take me more than a few seconds to watch the commercial and post here. I'm only bringing it up here, as we are like minded people who have dealt with issues such as this... a beloved car being destroyed, and some of us here have likely fought the insurance company to keep our car. We see ads being pulled left and right because of stupid reasons... someone claiming racism or sexism or something. Knowing how overreactive the lawyers are... and that the insurance companies have LOTS of lawyers... I was somewhat surprised that this ad did not raise some questions ANYWHERE (I searched before I posted). As far as painting anyone a victim... as long as insurance is compulsory and we pay to insure everybody else's cars (instead of our own), WE'RE the victims. Of course, the insurance companies feel they are the victims simply since they don't have all our money yet.

I was curious if something struck you guys about the new Subaru commercial... Its a 2009 Subaru at the junkyard and the guy visits it in his new 2010 Subaru... thinking "My Subaru saved my life"... He looks over the car... then unscrews the gear shifter to keep as a reminder. Of course, this is probably something most people don't consider, but since he has a new car, the insurance as most likely bought his old car... and at that point, the insurance company owns the whole car. Sure, you can remove personal belongings, but not car parts. Usually, you see these cars at the Pick-a-Parts with large stickers from the insurance companies pointing out that parts are not to be removed. Of course, this guy might have tracked his car down to a pick-a-part and legitimately bought the gear shifter knob... but P-a-Ps usually don't have such new cars and don't have cars stacked up five high, as in the commercial background. Just curious some of your thoughts.

I like big cars with big engines and RWD... to me, the F-bodies are the SMALLEST car I'd want to drive. I've talked about the car that isn't my type over and over again... its the Smart ForTwo. Now that its not selling as well, I would definitely want one, but not working in NYC right now, I don't need it. However, now that they are available cheaper, I may grab one if I return to NYC parking. Especially if they haven't caught on... more parking for me.

Yeah, I generally see them $25 a seat... but the local P-a-P wants $25 for the seat track, as well... so you have to remember to strip that off.

Sucks to hear that the problem is continuing to worsen. I'm still milking the Bonne, as well. Now its 219K... and it gets the code every time I drive longer than 45 minutes. Luckily, its not slipping, smelling or anything. Knock on wood. I'm looking for a backup car/pickup... then I might drop the subframe and replace the tranny... since I need to replace the struts, as well. But I still have to get the Caprice put back together. LOL. I usually clear my codes with my OBD adapter and laptop... but I'm considering getting a pocket code clearer, so I can clear the codes as I drive. $69 is cheaper short term than a tranny.

I am not a sheeple... but I like leather seats. Nobody has every told me their inherently better. I like the smell, the feel. I like the way they hold up... mine have not stained, ripped or absorbed bad smells in 200K miles. I especially like leather bucket seats. I also like cloth seats, especially ones from the eighties with the velour and fluffy faux-cushions. My only gripe with cloth seats is when I'm sweaty... I don't like the feeling that my smelly sweat is soaking into the seat. What I DONT like are modern cloth seats which seem to wear out fast, stain, smell over time. Also alot of modern cloth seats are too hard, IMHO. Of course, I like old school vinyl, too. Yeah, that stuff you fried your legs on years ago when you wore shorts in the summertime. The stuff held up reasonably well... but was hard as a rock in the winter. Take that curve too hard and whooops... you're on the wrong side of the car. Do I think cloth belongs in a Cadillac? Well, not really. I think overall, the leather goes hand in hand with a car being a Caddy. I feel alot of modern cloth materials are either boring or gimmicky. Neither belongs in a Caddy. Make it a option... IMHO, there needs to be more than two material/color options for a Caddy.

Especially considering that the SX/4 and the Spirit are both based on a refreshed Gremlin... designed waaaay back in 1970. I wanted a SX/4... but ended up with the MUCH more rare Eagle Kammback.

Theres nothing wrong with these Eagles. Compared with other cars, they didn't have serious rust problems. For a small car, the front seat area is huge. They are fairly light... and with a 6 cyl have alot of pep. Like GM stuff, the little things would break... like trim pieces or options... but rarely a show stopper. I had one of these with the Pontiac 4 cyl. $180 back lot special I found while looking for a 4x4. The engine was a terminal oil burner, but it still ran good. Put no money in it and went bajaing with it daily. Finally snapped the front driveshaft and it crashed through the clutch housing while off roading, and I didn't have the parts to put it back together. I highly doubt modern CUVs would have taken the abuse that car endured.

Is CR finally turning against Toyota?!? See whole article Here

While I prefer the bigger Ponchos, the early Firebird emblem is my favorite...

Looks like Ramsey's is about to get a letter from the Chrysler legal dept.

I got in fairly early on the Wholesale Shopping thing... Parents always had a business and so we started going to BJ's and Sams sometime around 1986 or so. Loved it... nothing could touch the prices, not real crowded. Sometime in the meantime, they started relaxing the requirements for membership, and they started to get crowded and the Walmart/Target has nearly the same prices... so wholesale shopping lost its luster in my eyes... so I never went into a Costco until recently. OMFG! The place is a madhouse EVERY DAMN DAY. You can't move... 15 registers open and everyone has 15 people in line. I've sworn off Costco for the time being. The Costco food is nowhere near enough to lure me in. Actually, I've sworn off shopping anywhere between 5am and 9pm to stay away from the crowds, as well.

Yeah, you can still recover the code. I would double check that the wire for cylinder 6 is on correctly and is not rubbing on anything.

Yeah, that goes for a whole bunch of modern safety features, I hate... such as autolocking doors, neutral safety switches, DRLs that don't turn off, etc. Sometimes you need to get out of a moving car... or move the car on the starter only... or want some stealth. I also don't like it when you pull on the door handle and the interior light lights up... its like "Hey thieves, look what I have in my back seat for you to steal!" So, I'll also hate brake override on the accelerator pedal... going to have to hack your car to do a good burnout.

Wet Summer... Wet Fall... 60" of Snow and wet Winter... I have a lake... I'm NOT supposed to... first time since '79... It was small... but now its about 5 acres. If the rain don't cut it soon, and let the water table drop, I'm going to be seriously concerned. I imagine that the rest of the yard is a mere few inches above the water table. Luckily, we don't have a stream nearby... I don't want to think of the mess if this stuff was moving.

Oh, duh, yeah. Easy fix, too, generally. I was thinking this would have been a 4L60E, not a 700r4.

After playing with my friend turbine mule, I don't understand why more turbine/electric hybrids have not been considered.

My thinking, as well. I'd say change fluid/filter and maybe Seafoam it... then go from there. Or you can risk it and hope that usage ungums it.

I've wondered this for a long time and suspected such a use. How does the square come out? Prying? I would think that would damage the paint.

Some people are already trying to reproduce the DeLorean. Of course, the DeLorean was not that great of a car, overall.

Its hard to line up the windows, as the coupe lines swoop down, but the wagon lines swoop upward. I don't know how that could be fixed and look factory.

I've wanted to build something like this for years. If it was 2500, I'd be all over it, assuming a magnet test didn't uncover 3 inches of bondo.

Yeah, I figured Life was up there. I guess NatGeo suffers from the same problem as wheat pennies... too many people hold onto them. Why not use a belt sander? Clip the magazine in a jig and grind off 1/8 an inch.