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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    I have an iPhone through work. It's.... tolerable. What I'm annoyed with on Android is their planned obsolescence. I have yet to have one that works satisfactorily for more than 18 months. The fact that OS updates stop after 2 years, or earlier if your carrier decides it wants to sell you a new phone. I have a Nexus 6P on Project Fi... so I'm all in on Google service. Yet 24 months in and OS updates have stopped. Security updates stop in October. This was supposed to be their flagship phone. Meanwhile, my partner's iPhone 6s and my own work 6S keep right on chugging along and will likely get iOS12 when it rolls out in a few weeks. Additionally... As of Android 8.1, Android Auto is an utter disaster. It crashes constantly. It is laggy. Half the time my music won't play... or if it does play, the music on the screen does not match the music playing in the speakers. Voice commands are absolute rubbish and completely non-functional. Car Play may be limited, but at least it works when I tell it what to do.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    To be honest, that was one of the biggest reasons I've been holding out on Android. What the Motorola Z3 Force looks like is going to determine if I stay with Android or leave for iPhone. I've been on Android for a long time, but my negative experiences with my current phone, and all the prior ones, are telling me to jump ship. The one thing I really didn't want to lose was Waze for in-dash navigation. Bollocks. #neversamsung
  3. Drew Dowdell
    There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current platform aside from needing better material fit and finish. They are full size and should remain so... not squished down to Euro standards.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Yeah, it’s supposed to be another revision of LX platform. Really, if they just refreshed it and put the effort into the interior that they did with the Ram, they’d be fine. Put the new turbo 2.0 in there as a base engine, maybe eAssist the V6 and V8. The cars today are super solid and have all the latest tech available. The possibility of their cancellation has renewed my interest in acquiring a 300.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    I really like these redline editions that Chevy does. I know there isn't anything groundbreaking here, but the package just pulls everything together and looks great.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    In 2012, South Korea lowered its tariffs on U.S. cars to 4 percent from 8 percent For reference, the tariff for US cars entering the EU is 10%. For US cars entering China, it is currently 25% but will drop to 15% on July 1. Japan has no import tariff on US cars, however Japanese market tastes are... unique... and American cars aren't suited for that market, so an increase in tariffs on Japanese cars isn't going to balance the trade. Tariffs for cars imported into the US are 2.5%, and for commercial vehicles, trucks, and 2-door SUVs, the tariff is 25%. This is commonly known as the Chicken Tax. Regardless of the numbers, I still think it is a personal thing between him and Merkel.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Of all the American brands on sale in the US, Buick has the highest percentage of models not built in the US. (Buick has 6 models of which only 2 models are built in the US.) Conversely, the vast bulk of Toyota brand vehicles are built in the US with the RAV4 being the only high volume Toyota model not built in the US. (Corolla, Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Sienna)
  8. Drew Dowdell
    To a degree... but at the same time he doesn't like Chancellor Merkel. You'll notice it wasn't Korean cars he mentioned wanting to ban. He is just saber rattling on this, but I don't doubt that he'll enact high tariffs if he doesn't get what he wants. It will be fairly devastating to the auto industry on both sides of the pond. Buick in particular would probably die in the US.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    I could do this one... ???? 2017 Chrysler 300S
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Wow! Those ARE cheap. It's a shame they are practically useless in my area because of the condition of our roads.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    If you can be gentle on the go-pedal and it's all highway, you might be able to squeeze 30+ out of it. You'd be better off in a C though. They actually get a higher EPA rating because of slightly less power.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    I keep looking at the 300S as a possible lease replacement for the Encore. Our miles have cut way down now. He takes the bus to work most days, and if I go into the office, he rides in with me. We still need an SUV though. Oh, yeah, not me at all. I want quick but quiet.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    They are pretty darn close. To me, the Chrysler looks a bit more prestigious on the outside. I just like the more upright roofline. It's just a visual preference though. I know most here will prefer the more sport looks of the Charger.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Being fwd has its advantages. That low load floor height makes these so much easier to get things in and out, plus also gives you about as much internal vertical height you can get without going to a box truck. The nose cone, while....homely.... Is actually designed to be easily and cheaply replaceable such that a person with minimal mechanical skill could perform it themselves if they wished.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Get one while you still can
  16. Drew Dowdell
    So a Solar Saturn.....
  17. Drew Dowdell
    I would assume they would be aluminum body panels covered in an array of photo-voltaic cells. PV cells don't have the structural integrity to be used as body panels alone.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The problem is with what he said and shows how he has zero understanding on the way the industry works (or he does, and he is simply posturing for his base who doesn't understand the industry) He said the tariff/ban whatever would stand until "no Mercedes-Benz cars are seen on Fifth Avenue in New York" Well, what about all the GLEs and C-Classes that are made in Alabama? Solar panels don't cost that much, you can do a whole house for like $20k. The problem is that their output per square inch of surface area isn't great, making cars not a great place to put them. Figure $600 for a fender, but then there is no painting.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    18 miles is what the HVAC might take if running a full blast on a hot day. so that goes back to my point. The only thing the solar panels are good for is keeping the car cool
  20. Drew Dowdell
    But we’re assured that is what people want
  21. Drew Dowdell
    You must not have gotten the memo. Every brand needs 14 crossovers with only 2 inch difference between them in size
  22. Drew Dowdell
    CT6, second gen Lacrosse. It doesn’t have to be RWD to get the nod. The only one at Ford I would give such a trophy to is the latest Explorer, Navigator too if we’re not considering budget. None of their cars though.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    If there is one thing I've learned over the last however many years of watching politics is that someone, somewhere, will always have an issue with what you do as president. People complained about Obama ordering brown mustard! It's all just pettiness. It's no secret that I don't like Trump, but of all of the issues I have with him, his owning a bunch of Rolls Royces isn't one of them. I don't even care if he buys a new one tomorrow.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Chevy absolutely needs to catch up with Ford on this one. They needed to go IRS on the current generation.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    I actually did some of that... picking up stocks that Warren buys. Anyway, I see no issue with Trump being a Rolls fan... he can like what he likes and I'm certainly not going to argue with that. If I were to become President, would people give me crap for continuing to own a car from a brand that no longer exists? The tariff is incredibly short-sighted though. "All-American" Buick is anything but.... Only 2/5ths of its lineup are built in the US. Encore - Korea Regal - Germany Envision - China Cascada - Poland Enclave - U.S. Lacrosse - U.S. Toyota? Corolla - Canada Camry - U.S. Avalon - U.S. RAV4 - Canada Highlander - US Tundra - US Prius - US Hyundai and Honda are much the same. And again, he's not going to get around NAFTA for the Canadian and Mexican built vehicles. This is targeted at EU, Japan, Korea, and Germany.
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