Drew Dowdell

Ah okay... so the 63 model as a LaSalle. I was confused because I was thinking of the '67 Eldorado and I thought that would be too close to comfort for the Riviera to co-exist.

I have some hearing difficulties, not enough to impede my daily life, but enough that music and specifically lyrics give me difficulty. I enjoy music immensely, but I need to feel it and lyrics are difficult for me to discern. Albert hates it because I need the bass pumping or the pipe organs at full. That said, one of the best vehicle audio systems I've encountered was the Fender system that VW was putting into the Jetta a few years back. Bose is just the bare minimum, Bose Panarey is slightly above that. Harmon Kardon is meh. The Burmester and B&O systems were good but didn't blow me away... but to be fair, no car audio system has. I would say that the Sony system that Ford used in some of the Flex/Explorer/Edge models was pretty good too... a worthwhile upgrade. They seem to have since moved to B&O. The super high end luxury audio houses don't seem to be doing much more than throwing more speakers in a car in yet another dick waving race. It seems about as much of an upgrade as a fake LV bag.... only good for the bragging rights of saying you spent $3k extra for someone else to put branding in your car. Also @ccap41 Cadillac was putting surround sound in the seats in 2008 before Benz did. Benz did have surround available, but it was just a 10 speaker system with nothing in the seat unlike the 15 speaker system in the STS.

Same: Avalanche, 12 months and 14,000 miles later, yet I paid $32k Chrysler 300C - 10 months and 10k miles later, I paid $23k

Ever notice that in the search for intelligent life, all of the sensors are pointed away from earth? There was an aftermarket wood paneling kit that gives it a Jaguar feel. soo much richer looking. If I had one of these I would do it. I like the burled one better. I'd need to swap out that Cavalier shifter though.

Interesting! Wouldn't it have collided with Eldorado though? Or would there have been a large enough size and content difference to leave room for both?

I think they look ungainly and awkward. If I'm spending $110k plus on a 3-row full size SUV, I'm getting something with pedigree, has night vision, and that can drive itself.

The unfortunate reality is that's what the plood in my Avalanche looks like... they matched the existing stuff pretty well. So it's what I'm stuck with.

I agree on the terms that it's just too big for the space. 1 inch shorter on the screen and it would be fine. That said, I've been interested in this unit for a while, but they still have a lot of software bugs and it takes over the hardware HVAC controls. I wouldn't mind the HVAC takeover so much at long as the system isn't buggy. But maybe they'll have some software upgrades for them eventually. I *really* want a nicely integrated apple carplay unit.

Convertibles are mostly gone. Outside of supercars, there's 2 domestics, 7 Germans (two of which are extremely low volume), and one extremely low volume Japanese.

I like crutchfield, but honestly, they don't seem to carry a lot of these model specific units. Unless you have something SUPER common like a Camry or Accord, they won't have it.

There are a few, but they are make/model/year specific. Like you can get an Apple Carplay capable unit. This is a replacement head unit for a 2007 - 2021 Camry This is a unit that I could put into my Avalanche.

2 door anything is coming to an end.

Interesting! I had e-mailed Cadillac about a week and a half ago with a SuperCruise question related to this. I wanted to know if SuperCruise on the Escalade would function if I had a bike rack on the back. Looks like it can once this rolls out. The answer back then was that all sensors needed to be clear in order for SuperCruise to function.

Rivian, Lucid, and Fisker I think have a shot at making it. And while Fisker is the shakiest of the bunch, they're the one that targets the biggest market segment outside of Full-Size pickups. They're preparing a CR-V sized EV that is supposed to start at $37k with a starting range of 250 miles. They've also been tapped to make the next EV Pope-mobile... so if they have that blessing, they should do okay. None of these, however, will take down Tesla. Tesla has developed a rabid base of fanbois that even Apple wishes it could cultivate.

I hate that I have to post another announcement like this. Please come together as a community and send your thoughts and prayers and condolences to our friend @daves87rs who recently lost his wife after a brief illness. Dave has always been a ray of sunshine and positivity in our community for many years and I hope we can be the same for him. There is a GoFundMe page set up to help offset costs. Please consider contributing. Our condolences Dave.

It’s not in the article, but since I monitor Covid stuff for work I can tell you about Pennsylvania. Here it’s the deepest red of counties where the surge is happening. My blue bastion of Allegheny county where Pittsburgh is just over 65% and climbing with vaccine rates (highest in the state outside of Philly). The states where vaccination rates are under 50% are where the surges are happening.

I was on the motorcycle so I couldn't get a pic... but this morning I saw a Ford Transit with GMC badging on it. I looked at it and it didn't register, and then a half mile away I'm like

Which post was this? I'll report it to the software vendor as a bug.

But... like zero on the inners and a huge amount left on the outers? So I shouldn't worry about the caliper sliders? I thought because it sat they might have been stiff.

The chirpers on the left front wheel started going off, but looking through the wheel spokes the pad looked fine... so I wasn't sure what was going on. I pulled the wheel and it turns out the inside pad is almost gone while the outside pad looks nearly new. That means the caliper sliders were probably stuck I think. Ordered a new set of AC Delco Gold Ceramic pads and two new AC Delco Gold rotors. They'll come on Thursday and I'll install them Sunday after I get back from DC (in the Chrysler). Gotta remember to get caliber slider lube too. This is all prep for driving the Avalanche to Miami later in July.

Bought some shocks and some rear brake shoes just because I have a feeling that the rears are toasted. I have a bunch of travel coming up (not in the Toronado) so I won't have time to get it to a frame place right now.

So Monroe gave me back the Olds and said nothing was wrong with the brakes. She drove perfectly normally the entire drive home... I do have a leaking shock and I failed inspection from a crack in the frame, so I'll have to get that checked... but brakes I'm told are fine.

She tried to kill me this morning. Driving to work and about a third of the way there the brake light on the dash comes on. I go to stop and nothing from the pedal until the very end and then the front brakes lock up. I regained control and limped her the rest of the way to work. Popped the hood once I got there and the fluid seemed high enough but the wrong color. Smelled burning brakes from the back left wheel. I had stuff I needed to do at work, so I went into the office and 3 hours later took her to the Monroe Brake up the street. Oddly, she drove perfectly fine with no brake light. Still haven't heard from them, so not sure what is going on yet.

It is HILARIOUS that you can get so easily confused by names. It's just like when you think the 3.6 liter GM makes today is the same as the 3.6 liter they made in my 2004 CTS simply because they have the same displacement (SMK - "Oh, that's such an old engine, they've been building it since 2004") even though they are not at all related or interchangeable. You've done the same thing here and that chart is drastically oversimplified. The Porsche family owned the old Porsche AG. They changed the name to Porsche SE and spun off the manufacturing business to a new Porsche AG. Of which they hold controlling interest. Porsche SE then bought a controlling interest in Volkswagen AG and simultaneously sold Porsche AG to VW AG. VW AG also owns Audi AG. Audi AG owns the Audi brand, Audi Sport GmbH (the RS cars, and curiously a separate company from Audi AG), Automobile Lamborghini SPA, and SEAT SA, each as their own companies, not divisions like the way GM and Ford are set up. However, VW AG has an operating agreement with its own subsidiary Audi AG to co-run SEAT SA. Lamborghini SPA is the sole owner of Ducati SPA even thought Uncle VW put up the cash for them. Audi Sport GmbH is the sole owner of Volkswagen R GmbH... meaning that Porsche SE owns VW AG owns Audi AG owns Audi Sport GmbH owns VW R GmbH. VW AG also owns: Bentley Ltd. 100% Volkswagen of France who in turn owns Bugatti S.A.S TRATON SE (Formerly VW Truck and Bus) which owns MAN SE and Scania AB Skoda Auto S.A.S If it seems like a shell game. It is. All of these separate companies sell time, engineering, materials, and cars to each other as if they are separate companies. For example, if you buy an RS Audi, the body and most parts are built by Audi AG, which then sells the shell to Audi Sport GmbH which adds its own parts to complete the car, then the car is sold to one of the many Audi regional holding groups to sell the car to the dealerships. If you get a VW R model, the shell is built by VW, sold to VW R (who is owned by Audi Sport GmbH who is owned by Audi AG who is owned by VW AG). VW R fits the sporty bits, and then sells the car to one of the regional VW distribution companies. Sometime when I have more time I want to try and build a flow chart of who owns who in this crazy family tree. VW Group has to be the largest employer of tax accountants in the EU.

VW didn't take over Porsche. The Porsche family took over VW and then used VW to buy Porsche from themselves for themselves..... It raised a lot of eyebrows and questions from regulators.