Robert Hall

Had a good time at the Cleveland Auto Show. Pictures here. The Blazer and XT4 look better in person than in photos. And both as spec'd were close to $50k. (Blazer Premier FWD was $48k). First time I'd seen the new Silverados (regular or HD) in person...they look huge and strange in person, esp. the weirdness of the front fender corners and that vertical vent below the lights. The white Corvette ZR1 was striking. At the Buick stand, they had not one but two Cascadas..maybe the same two as last year. They had a red Regal GS, looked good though the seats looked weird with the grilles in the upper part w/ chrome surrounds. I guess I overlooked the GMC stand. Saw them last year. Liked sitting in the CT6 and CTS. I like the revised lighting and fascias on the CT6. Sat in the back seat of the CT6, funny...there is a recessed area ahead of the rear window my head fits in, but if I lean forward my head hits the raised surround for the rear sunroof. Lots of legroom in front and rear. As always, I enjoyed time at the FCA stand...they had a Gladiator on display. Several new Wranglers, a couple GCs, a Compass Trailhawk (neat!), green Challenger GT, a couple Chargers, a 300. The new Ram 3500 Mega Cab Limited was mega-huge. And brown The new Aviator looks really good in person. As does the new Explorer ST. Both were locked. The Shelby GT500 was on display, locked w/ dark window tint. Sat in a Bullitt (last year it was on a dais and locked). The Edge ST looks good, in that same sharp blue as the Explorer ST. They had an orange Ranger 4dr 4x4 on a dais, none you could sit in though. I hadn't paid much attention to them before, but the Accord and Insight look really good in person inside and out. I really liked the Volvos, esp. the S90 and V90 CC. Sat in both, along w/ the S60 and XC60...S60 felt tight inside, seat wasn't all the way back. I like their interior colors and materials. The classic car display (in a separate section of the massive hall) was nice, some 60s-70s big Buicks and Pontiacs stood out. After leaving, I realized I had completely missed the Mazda stand, would have liked to have sat in a couple models.

I try to charge my iPhone 7 every night whilst I sleep. I’m on it pretty much continuously during a work day, a couple 15 min conference calls but mostly listening to music and podcasts (iTunes and Overcast apps) while I work. I find if I limit myself to that I can usually go from 8am to about 3 before it gets down to 20 percent or so. Using apps like Facebook or surfing the web (Safari) drains the battery more. At home I have it on my home WiFi rather than cellular data.

Long time Apple fan here, so I prefer iPhones--they just work, and I like how my photos and music get seamlessly synched between my phone, Mac Book, and iPad w/ iCloud. The big negative relative to Android phones (Samsung Galaxy being my reference point) to me is the battery life... My current 7 is ok, but not dramatically better than my 6s was...newer models like the iPhone 8 and X (10) variations may be improved. My sister loves her Samsung Galaxy and uses Google Play for content synching there I believe. The Samsungs seem to have great cameras...though my iPhone camera is fine. I suppose one advantage to Android is there are multiple vendors offering Android based phones like Samsung, LG, Google w/ the Pixel, etc. But with that come version issues as different phones are on different versions of Android and have limitations due to that (or so I hear). Consistency is what I like about the one-vendor approach with Apple and iOS.

The Polar Vortex and other shitty weather in many parts of the country limited the days one would want to venture out to a car dealer...

Yeah, I couldn't imagine ordering a vehicle without a test drive first. And time sitting in it and checking out the ergonomics, etc.

Pretty dull exterior color choices...funny how they call the black 'Void'. Not much going on w/ interior colors, the barley is tolerable...the slate and charcoal are too depressing.

St Augustine seems like it would be a fun place to vacation. I still like the Keys, though they are pretty vulnerable to hurricanes like last year.

2 years ago? 5 years ago? i don't know...seems like they've been talking about the upcoming C8 for years... (I still think they are going to cancel it before it's ever shown).

For a 2 row midsize, I'd take a Grand Cherokee (I'm admittedly biased being an owner). I'd also consider the Durango or next gen Explorer (ignoring the 3rd row in those).

Like the mythical mid engined Corvette...

I interpreted it as picking cars that from the year you were 12...so when I was 12, it would be 1982. Still ruminating on what my list would be. Though I can see how Horsey's choices and comments take it a different way.. When I was 12, the 1982 Mustang GT caught my eye while reading Car & Driver. 5 years later, I had a red 1987 Mustang GT. 22, 1992 Acura NSX. I remember lusting after the NSX in college. In 1998, a friend bought a used black 91. I got to drive it a few times and rode in it many times over the next decade.. 32, 2002 BMW E46 M3. I had an E36 M3 at the time, but found the E46 very appealing. 42, 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. Five years later I bought a 2014. Love it. 52, 2022. Dodge Challenger SRT or Cadillac CT6 (tie). Still 3 years in the future, not sure if either of these will exist in current form. But 2019 versions would make good CPOs.

Unfortunately, yes. Maybe with it moving to May (June?) I can go to the Detroit auto show in 2020. I wouldn't drive over there in January, but I wouldn't mind the summer...going to the Detroit area at least twice this summer anyway...

Durango Gen 1 and Gen 2 were both based on the midsize Dakota is my understanding (Dakota Gen 2 and Gen 3), Durango Gen 3 is based on the WK2 Grand Cherokee. Durango Gen 2 was painfully ugly in the front, IMO..almost minivanish in it's lumpen shape. To confuse matters, Wikipedia says the 3rd gen Dakota and 2nd Gen Durango were 'now similar to the Ram' as far as the frame....also says" Like the Dakota, it (2nd gen Durango) has much in common with the large Dodge Ram pickup". The 2nd gen Durangos and 3rd gen Dakotas seem to have all disappeared..haven't seen any in ages. 1st gen Durangos and 1st & 2nd gen Dakotas have presumably rusted away here.

Maybe..no interest in going to the local Chevy dealer, though. I enjoy going to the annual car show and strolling around a few hours...

The Five Year plan from last year indicated a 3 row Grand Cherokee was coming (whether it will be badged as a GC or something else is unknown), distinct from the full sized Wagoneer & Grand Wagoneer. I don't recall anything specific in the slides regarding Dodge SUVs, but I've seen speculation on Allpar that the next Durango would be a full sizer on the same Ram-based platform as the Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer. Time will tell.

So far I've only been judging the Blazer from photos...hopefully there is one at the Cleveland Auto Show, going Saturday..will be interesting to see one in person and see how ugly it is in the plastic.

Knock on wood, but in 20+ years of using Amazon, I've never had an account issue. I use Prime for shopping every week, along w/ subscribing to several Prime streaming channels.