It's probably only a matter of time until the auto makers in concert with insurance companies will mail you a ticket.?ÿ No wait...they'll email you the ticket, and then automatically suck the fine out of your bank account.?ÿ
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And the funny thing is that I probably waived all rights to the data collected by my new Jeep when I signed the papers at the dealer.
Around the Denver metro area I live in, my wife and I pull up traffic conditions before all trips of any length, just to see where the accidents and construction have balled-up the traffic flow.?ÿ I agree that I know a lot of alternate routes around this area, but I've also been known to drive an extra few miles to get around massive traffic jams that I otherwise wouldn't have known about until I got in them....
The in-dash gps is not worth the money.
I never plan to pay extra for navigation in a car.?ÿ My phone has GPS and Google Maps included. It shows construction and slow traffic spots, will tell me where to turn if I let it, and I don't need to buy map updates for it.
Most times when I need that guidance both of us are in the car so one can handle navigation with the phone or a paper map. For 15 years that was our mode of operation using a sportsman GPS. No automatic routing, but having dots on the map for where you are and where you want to go in an unfamiliar city is valuable.
My current ride is a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser (purchased in September of 2006). It has been perfect, never in the shop, never failed to get me where I wanted to go, and still has the original battery, spark plugs, belts and hoses (knock on wood). It still has less than 80,000 miles on it (I drove less than a thousand miles this year). It will no doubt out live me.
We're in this together - I have a 2011 FJC that I purchased in 2013 with about 33k miles.?ÿ It now is just under 70k miles and there is nothing mechanically wrong with it.?ÿ I obviously don't put too many miles/year on it as my drive to work is only about 5 miles.?ÿ But I do go 4-wheeling/off-roading in it a fair amount and I think it's fantastic for that.
I have a buddy with a 4 door Jeep Wrangler that's about 4 years old.?ÿ While I am/was a huge Jeep fan (my Dad purchased a 1965 CJ-5 in about 1969 and we still have it in the family today), you really couldn't pay me enough to own the current versions.?ÿ Other than a decent amount of power, that thing is a beast on the road and doesn't have a lick of storage space or leg room.?ÿ And reliability doesn't exist with the Wrangler.
And I do wish that my FJC had a V8 in it - especially at the altitudes that I live and play.?ÿ A V6 is all that came in this vehicle.?ÿ I did consider the manual transmission model, but didn't want full time 4 wheel drive, so have the automatic transmission.?ÿ I never thought I'd like the automatic transmission off road, but training myself to put it into the gear I need/want to hold wasn't too hard.?ÿ I'm sure it can go to places I don't even dream about.
Toyota put a lot of good engineering into that vehicle and I don't know that I'll sell it anytime soon.
No matter the condition yours is in, you can sell it for quite the pretty penny.?ÿ But I hope you don't sell it for a GT350 Heritage Edition.?ÿ And that's from a guy who started my Mustang ownership with a 1970 Mach 1....?ÿ They are totally different vehicles meant for totally different uses.?ÿ Buy the GT350HE if you like (I wasn't knocking it), but keep the FJC for what it does too.
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PS. And yes, one of the things I liked about the FJC, even before I bought it, were the giant manual control knobs for the ventilation controls that I can control with gloved hands....
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PPS. Check out RevologyCars.com for their current take on older classic hot stuff Mustangs.
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My wife??s ride is a 2019 model with WiFi/nav/Apple play, gps etc. It??s 19 months old and I still have not been through all the settings. Prior to srarting the thing is like a pre flight checklist. ?????ÿ
Given the author of your signature line quote, you should have long ago adopted his position that:
"I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat' - though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory."
And the funny thing is
I didn't think it was funny... ?????ÿ
They do not test on parallel parking anymore.?ÿ That was a huge bone of contention when I was teaching my no it all kid how to drive.?ÿ All I heard was that "THEY DON'T REQUIRE THAT ON THE TEST" to which I replied "but I do if you want to drive".
I hope she is teaching the skill to the grandkid now that she has a learners permit.
In one way or another I've been involved with some really fast cars over the last 40+ years.?ÿ While a big V-8 can put out some serious horse power the modern well designed turbo engine hands down produces a better overall performance vehicle with just as much if not more HP.?ÿ A couple of years ago I got the opportunity to navigate for a time trial in a Ford Transit van.?ÿ We did 170 mph before I told the drive we need to slow down or risk being DQd for exceeding our tech speed.?ÿ The van had a little old 3 l V-6 putting out well over 700 BHP.?ÿ On a more nimble note, I drove a Focus RS for a bit.?ÿ I would say that not many things on the street with a V-8 could keep up with the RS.?ÿ I was deadly quick and well balanced putting out 350 hp stock.
funny to see people commuting to work every day with a gps unit up on their dashboard.
I have a Garmin sitting on top of the dash in my 2007 Tundra (no built-in GPS).?ÿ Aside from occasional use in getting to an unfamiliar address, I load search coordinates for monuments or other control points when I'm working in rural areas.?ÿ It's easy to unplug and bring it into the office for the upload.
Funny thing, these new new and even slightly new cars.....
They all now have gizmo like insurance company benefiting devices like downloadable ECMs and other data storage devices that when interrogated under scrutiny in a court room, will be used against the owner of that data.?ÿ
Suppose that when you buy a car today, you might need to do so under the umbrella of a trust or an entirely disconnected LLC that owns it, and then submit a copyright for all of the data created by the vehicle so if in fact the misfortune of an accident or event occurs, the snake bellies can apply for a license to access the copyrighted data, at what ever the fee the owner wishes to value it at for that purpose.?ÿ Or just flatly refuse.?ÿ Just a waning thought as 2020is racing to a close finally, for any of your new car considerations
I also have a long history of bouncing around in Jeeps (back into the mid-1950s). Most all of my friends who had Jeeps at one time or another, have traded up to Toyotas at some point (and never looked back). I bought a 1965 K-Code (HiPo 289) Mustang back in 1968, and spent pretty much spent every dollar that I made over the next 2 years building a D-Modified ?¬ mile machine out of it. It ended up being a 3 mpg monster, but was a blast stop light to stop light (young and DUMB). I sold it in 1970 and got married (young and dumber).
I was less than thrilled with having to get the "full time" 4 wheel drive system required with the 6 speed manual FJC, but it has been trouble free, and considering the 6 months of snow here in Wyoming, has turned out to be pretty handy. When I lived here in the early 1980s, we put our hubs in on Labor Day, and didn't turn them out again until Memorial Day.
Loyal
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yeah, that's all fine and good in the scenarios you're talking about.?ÿ and i know turbos (and everything else) have come a long way from the days when they had a decent chance of exploding and sending 18000 pieces of shrapnel down the intake.
guess i'm still not convinced that tens/hundreds of thousands of these motors being put through the paces by the general population with their varied driving and maintenance habits are gonna hold up.?ÿ can you imagine how rich the jiffy lube guys would be if most people actually kept up with their needed oil changes?
the jiffy lube guys would be if most people actually kept up with their needed oil changes?
that's the problem right there....I wouldn't let those morons take out my trash....I change my oil every 15-20k miles.?ÿ once couldn't find time, 30k miles.... 2004 Tundra with 276K miles now....new ball joints are in my future.?ÿ and tires. upper lower radiator hoses too.
Reason I say that about the lube and screw places is that they are pushed to sell crap, most of which isnt needed, and they use crap oil and dont reinstall the OEM crush washers etc etc etc.
I'm sure I'll change my tune when I can't get under my truck someday, and yeah....
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GET OFF OF MY LAWN!!!!!
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Hey was this the Silver State Classic??ÿ I soooooo want to run in this event some day....
Just out of curiosity whose signature quote? Your quote "I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat'" is by J.R.R. Tolkien isn't it? ?????ÿ
well, yeah, but you know what i'm getting at: maybe we're at the point where the reliability of previously finicky automotive technology is enough to overcome the ambient... hamhandedness of the average motorist.?ÿ i don't know, don't pay much attention these days.?ÿ guess i'm just getting old enough and/or autistic enough that i really like to stick with what i know works.
What is the cost to you to let someone else do it and the time involved?
What does it cost to do it yourself and the time involved?
How much profit do you lose from the time invested?
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I see this all the time.?ÿ Someone burns a day of what should be productive work time to go cut and haul firewood to their home.?ÿ What would it cost to get the same wood delivered?
