Drew Dowdell

I'd want the greenhouse to move the other direction

My go pro burns through battery really quick. I wouldn't use one as a dash cam.

That sounds really nice. There is a semi-local resort here that I've been thinking of doing that with if I ever catch some time to breath. It would violate my cheapwad tendencies a bit, but I've stayed there once for business and I was smitten with the place.

I'm the same way. It makes it even bigger that I travel all the time for work so I'm never home. Vacation for me would be a week in my own bed. That said... if I ever get caught up at home, i'd like to go back to Boulder, CO again and spend a week hiking. Going away for vacation always sounds good until you actually get there. Then you find yourself in a hotel room that isn't as comfortable as home, away from the various things you're used to, paying a lot more for food because your well-stocked fridge isn't right there. Then you actually go to some attraction or another where things get more expensive and you wind up blowing your budget on the souvenirs everyone just HAS to have. Then again, if I'm doing something like that, it isn't for me, because my fun will be minimal. I would do all that for my son, though, and no matter how much it sucked it would be worth it to see him have a wonderful time. So, I get wanting to just stay at home and relax for vacation, it is my ideal option generally, but I also get the draw of a getaway vacation, at least if you have kids. Oh I don't travel like that at all... I pretty much never buy any souvenirs. I like to use AirBnB for that sort of travel so I eat at the location I'm staying a lot instead of eating out. For me, it's all about getting out into nature.

Modern car? I'm really looking forward to the Cadillac CT6. I'm currently a fan of the Benz C-Class and the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland EcoDiesel

The stock is a questionable investment at this time... but that doesn't mean Tesla can't succeed. I was reading an article today about someone wishing Apple would get into the car business but not wanting to do it because the profit margin is only 10%. Apple has enough free cash between the couch cushions right now to buy out the entire market cap of GM, Ford, and Telsa combined. If they bought just the minimum to take control of the companies, they could own all of the domestics, at least one or two of the Germans, and American Airlines.

Even a blind squirrel gets the time right twice with his hands behind his back.

Doesn't matter to them, they're going to want a new car in 2 - 4 years anyway. Those people already were lease-ees. I don't think I understand someone who is going to complain about how much they are spending but then enter into a perpetual infinite monthly expenditure cycle. They're probably already in that cycle. They buy, go upside down, trade in 3 - 4 years before the note is paid off, and roll the balance into the next car. Leasing will probably cost them less money than that scenario. Don't get me wrong... I much prefer to buy and hold also. I'm just explaining what I think is the reason for the shift. Besides, GM says you don't even own your car anymore, you just license the software that runs it.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Doesn't matter to them, they're going to want a new car in 2 - 4 years anyway. We leased the Buick, but our reason for leasing was that we were anticipating a major life change after 2 years and we weren't sure if we were going to want the same sort of vehicle. We were a 1 vehicle household if you don't count the Toronado which doesn't get used much.

I think this goes right along with the news story about 84 month finance terms. We're setting ourselves up for another financial bubble where people "move up" through longer financing terms instead of wage increases.

I'm the same way. It makes it even bigger that I travel all the time for work so I'm never home. Vacation for me would be a week in my own bed. That said... if I ever get caught up at home, i'd like to go back to Boulder, CO again and spend a week hiking.

The big ones are all there, but the quality of the apps is poor on many of them. I'm pretty set on staying with android... I have a lot in the ecosystem and am comfortable there. Also, I'm now hearing rumors that the S4 will get the update to 5.1 or 5.1.1

All changed. All of your old posts will also have your new name.

If you have a smart phone, there are apps you can download and get a windshield mount. Maybe try that setup out first?

Elon has billions in his bank account and his ego is on the line with Tesla. I think Telsa will be okay for a while. That said, one of the early pieces is apparently in place for the Model-3. From what I understand is the front motor setup in the P85D is likely to be the base rear motor in the Model 3.

... the current car

Opel loses money due to GM's accounting. Opel bears a lot of GM's R&D costs that other business units get to take advantage of. The same thing happened with Saab ... Saab did a ton of work on the original Epsilon platform and 2.0T ecotec engines, but GM North America got to book most of the profits for those developments. Opel needs to stick around because the Europeans have already shown that they won't buy "family" Chevrolets. Chevy and Opel both may have an unfavorable opinion over there, but a German will push an Opel before he'll drive a Chevy. That is some interesting insight, I can see the point your making though as I think germans would push an opel before a Chevy, but I wonder about the rest of Europe? Here on the other hand die hard americans would push a US brand before a german or asian I believe. Native Europeans very much favor european brands, and when there is a home country brand available, they favor that even more. Thus in Germany, the majority of cars are German cars, in France, the majority are French cars. The Spanish like their SEATS which, though not in the majority, have a strong bit of market share. The one exception to this rule is Ford. Ford made a huge effort to integrate themselves into the European social fabric.. and Europeans are actually a bit snobbish about their Fords.... "Oh, my Ford is not an American Ford... it is a European Ford!". Thus, these Fords are considered domestics rather than imports.... usually because they are. One of my trips to Germany was around the time of the initial launch of the Fiesta in the US. It was having a hard time gaining traction here, but walking around Cologne, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a Fiesta. Part of the reason is that Ford has/had a large production facility in Cologne, so there were many Ford employees there.

Whatever you want, just maybe try and make it make at least a little sense for the brand that you're resurrecting to do it. OK then : Doble. Someone years ago tried to do a modern Doble powertrain in a first gen Taurus.

$40k for a Buick Regal?!?! No way is it worth it. Could get a year old 335i or IS350, C-class, etc. Probably a year old CTS even for that money. I think, from his earlier posts, he's looking to lease.

Bravo to you sir and thank you. Fresh starts are always nice. I was going to even stay incognito with obscure name to avoid the 'drama', but then realized that it's best if I am who I am. But I don't know how to change it once you create it. mods, if it's OK I would like to change my name to Wings4Life. If you could direct me how, or kindly do so for me. Thanks I will PM you about it later. There are some terms and conditions to doing this (purely technical in nature, just need to make sure you understand them)

LOL! I didn't say I'd want it. I'd never own any year Grand Prix ... or Impala ... or Nova......... Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com 1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve "Just like driving on an open highway never knowing what we're gonna find" __ Lady Antebellum __ 'Our Kind Of Love' No Impalas? Thought you liked full size Chevys...

I would say that all of them are doing it for efficiency reasons... CVT are just about the most efficient transmission possible as long as you can make the difference between the Max and Min ratios wide enough. I think in Nissan's case, it is letting them keep an old 4-cylinder on the shelf longer. Subarus are always going to feel grunty... that's just the nature of the boxer 4. Boxer 6s are a good bit smoother.

Opel loses money due to GM's accounting. Opel bears a lot of GM's R&D costs that other business units get to take advantage of. The same thing happened with Saab ... Saab did a ton of work on the original Epsilon platform and 2.0T ecotec engines, but GM North America got to book most of the profits for those developments. Opel needs to stick around because the Europeans have already shown that they won't buy "family" Chevrolets. Chevy and Opel both may have an unfavorable opinion over there, but a German will push an Opel before he'll drive a Chevy.

I think Holden needs to stay, but they'll just get rebadges from other divisions. They really should tie up closer with Opel and GMDAT since those two make the right hand drive cars. Cooperation with Buick for big RWD cars for US, Australia, and China wouldn't be a bad move. I think Mitsubishi needs to throw in the towel. They've made so many mistakes and keep making mistakes, it's clear that they aren't going to get anywhere now. Vauxhall is just rebadged Opels for English speaking market, so it's not like it costs anything to keep alive. Scion is dying and their future products don't look promising. There is no reason the Scion iM couldn't be sold as new Matrix besides the lack of AWD. The iA is going to sell worse than the Yaris does. What's left? tC and FR-S.... well there's your Celica and GT86 at Toyota. They might even sell better under the Toyota name.