Random Thoughts Thread

[ccap41]

I was about to say.. All of the mid-sizers can touch 50k if you opt for every option on the highest trim. 

I added everything I could to a Lariat(4X4, SuperCrew Cab) and it came out to this, even the more pricey paint. 

Edited August 8, 2018 by ccap41

[ccap41]

None of the interiors look 50k worthy, if you ask me. 

[trinacriabob]

21 hours ago, balthazar said:

You could have quintupled your investment had you bought it at $2 per in '08.
In 1981, it was as low as .67 cents/share.

True.

I also vaguely recall that when GM was having a crappy year circa 1975 coincidentally at the time they had just introduced the catalytic converter, it was trading at about $ 34 a share.  My dad used to sit there with the morning Times and talk out loud about what he was reading while having his coffee at the breakfast table.

Then, during the bicentennial year and the economy got better, and when they couldn't make Cutlass Supremes with the quad rectangular lamps fast enough, I believe GM stock about doubled, into the $ 60 + range.

I remember something to this effect.   I'd have to look at a chart.

 

 

[ocnblu]

To avoid paying too much for a Ranger, just be surgical with the options.  I wish their Baltic Sea Green were available on the Ranger.

[daves87rs]

18 hours ago, ocnblu said:

A Supercab 4X4 XL STX FX4 with rear seat delete sounds like a sweet truck for not too much moolah.

I'm there with you until the rear seat delete...need somewhere to stow the kid....?

[ocnblu]

14 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

But you live in Amish country... there is good homemade furniture everywhere!

Give me $$$ prices are ridic

[Drew Dowdell]

15 hours ago, ccap41 said:

None of the interiors look 50k worthy, if you ask me. 

This will get me crucified around here, but I still think the Taco is the best truck of the bunch.  The GM twins have outdated and compromised interiors, the Ranger has no V6 and an old interior.  The Taco's interior is comfortable, the V6 has sufficient (if not neck snapping) punch, and it's off-road version is tried and true. 

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

This will get me crucified around here, but I still think the Taco is the best truck of the bunch.  The GM twins have outdated and compromised interiors, the Ranger has no V6 and an old interior.  The Taco's interior is comfortable, the V6 has sufficient (if not neck snapping) punch, and it's off-road version is tried and true. 

Without having the Ranger out yet, I still prefer the Taco. A lot of that is looks alone. It has a more rugged truck look to it. The interior looks better to me and being shorter their low seat works for me. I could understand a taller person wouldn't like the seating position because it does have a higher floor and you sit more in a car-like driving position. 

I'm very skeptical with the Ranger only offering a turbo-4. It would have been really nice to see a detuned 2.7T or the new 3.3 n/a v6. 

[Robert Hall]

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

 

I'm very skeptical with the Ranger only offering a turbo-4. It would have been really nice to see a detuned 2.7T or the new 3.3 n/a v6. 

Well, in the 8 years this platform has been around, they've all been 4 cyls or diesel 5s.   Maybe for the US they will offer a V6, but they haven't announced anything yet.

[G. David Felt]

 

WOW wonder what made the cab pop off like that. Wonder if it is rust.

 

[ocnblu]

Well it is Boston.  Rust is a safe bet.  I thought the dude was naked at first.

[G. David Felt]

 

This is also very cool - Compilation of all current chevy truck faces.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--gUCSVPwr--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/bxqwv4phidojbea7l7lm.mp4 

[G. David Felt]

@ocnblu You will like this, someone recorded the sound of the new mid-engine corvette. The story says it sounds like a flat plane V8

https://jalopnik.com/i-have-no-idea-what-this-mid-engine-corvette-c8-r-race-1828203040

[balthazar]

^ Some people prefer the soft, ozone-laced whir of an electric motor, like a battery-powered toothbrush a few feet away: steady whine, low pitched, not at all threatening, commanding or aspiring.

I think a good illustration of this would be the "mild" woman :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JESkeS13iwk

[daves87rs]

15 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

This will get me crucified around here, but I still think the Taco is the best truck of the bunch.  The GM twins have outdated and compromised interiors, the Ranger has no V6 and an old interior.  The Taco's interior is comfortable, the V6 has sufficient (if not neck snapping) punch, and it's off-road version is tried and true. 

Having just driven in a new Taco, I would have to agree. Very nice product.....

[Suaviloquent]

I think what’s worse is the studio lighting Ford uses. That’s a dreary black interior in reality, not a sheen of grey with the leather quality being so far from reality.

 

Though I do think the Ranger exterior is the best of the bunch. And the steel bumpers really have a hefty look to them. 

[ocnblu]

GM always seems to build smaller vehicles that seem/feel like scaled down versions of their larger stuff, instead of building smaller vehicles that start out small on their own.

The Tacoma is an evolution of Toyota's mini trucks of yore, and a lot of ppl like that.  It has a shallow bed (with a useful composite inner tub that doesn't require protection) and an interior that places your legs straighter out (like the old tiny mini trucks) instead of at chair height like the GM twins.  I found my Colorado put me in an odd, twisted seating position, and although I preferred the floor height of the seat, I was constantly fiddling with placement of my left laig.

The new Ranger does have a vintage aura to it, but I feel the way Ford is packaging it and bundling options to please a wider range of customer desires will make it a winner.  The 2.3EB with 10 speed auto should be fine if it is tuned properly for truck use.  I am pinning my hopes on it as I cannot buy a Toyota.

[Suaviloquent]

That’s what I was going to say.

 

you go back a 2-3 F150 generations ago, and then this Ranger looks an awful like a heavy midcycle refresh of that same style.

[trinacriabob]

I was just thinking about new car brochures and ads, including on the web.

I was looking at Buick brochures from the 1980s and it seems like they were always set in a beautiful setting, like Charleston, Savannah, New England, or in the national parks of the West or the Smokies.

Now, if you look at these same brands and cars, the cars are mostly placed in downtown L.A., another modern downtown, or next to a minimalist, modern, tech-y, expensive as hell custom home.

Hmmm ... have those other places lost their appeal?  Not to me, anyway ...

- - - - -

Another thought, it looks like the new Focus (next year) will employ the "laptop left open" look atop its center stack.  Oh well.

[Drew Dowdell]

4 hours ago, ocnblu said:

GM always seems to build smaller vehicles that seem/feel like scaled down versions of their larger stuff, instead of building smaller vehicles that start out small on their own.

The Tacoma is an evolution of Toyota's mini trucks of yore, and a lot of ppl like that.  It has a shallow bed (with a useful composite inner tub that doesn't require protection) and an interior that places your legs straighter out (like the old tiny mini trucks) instead of at chair height like the GM twins.  I found my Colorado put me in an odd, twisted seating position, and although I preferred the floor height of the seat, I was constantly fiddling with placement of my left laig.

The new Ranger does have a vintage aura to it, but I feel the way Ford is packaging it and bundling options to please a wider range of customer desires will make it a winner.  The 2.3EB with 10 speed auto should be fine if it is tuned properly for truck use.  I am pinning my hopes on it as I cannot buy a Toyota.

The Colorado / Canyon just doesn't seem to fit me.  I feel like I'm falling forward off the seat and there isn't enough horizontal support. It's a shame because I really want to like them. 

Edit: I doubt any Ranger intenders will be put off by the interior.  It's just going to be us auto-journo types who complain about it. 

[ocnblu]

"It's not delivery, it's Auto-Journo!"

[G. David Felt]

Love this Volkswagen paid commercial that features the Chevy BOLT!  

[ocnblu]

HAHA... LAME-O

[G. David Felt]

Hellcat Prius, who would have thunk!  

 

[G. David Felt]

Always cool to look at GMs Chinese models only by their other names.

https://media.gm.com/media/cn/en/gm/photos.html

Baojun

Jiefang

Wuling

BJW are 3 name plates I did not realize GM had till I started looking through their photo section.

[ykX]

I was playing with my insurance, trying to add different sports cars to see the difference in premiums and discovered something surprising:

To add new Mustang GT will cost me almost $200 a year more than a new Corvette and over $300 a year more than Miata.

If I go with used 'Vette (about '11-'12 that costs about the same as new Mustang GT or Miata Club) it is actually will be almost $100 a year cheaper than the new Miata and almost $400 cheaper than the Mustang!

Even few year old Mustang GT still significantly more expensive to insure than everything else.  Damn all these Cars and Coffee idiots that crash into people

Edited August 15, 2018 by ykX

[G. David Felt]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/how-the-mighty-have-fallen-30-mile-porsche-911-r-estimated-to-take-measly-dollar375000-at-auction/ar-BBLWpPp?li=BBnb7Kz#image=BBLWpPp_1|5

This is an interesting Million dollar porsche race car now only worth $375,000 and yet nothing but time has changed since money changed hands.

[balthazar]

^ Past buyer greatly overpaid; 991 units built is not the stuff of a million dollar car.
It's also "just" a package on a standard 911; not like it's a 1 of a dozen unique cars.

[Robert Hall]

I should have done this a year ago but was too burnt out from the move then....shuffled a bunch o' crap to the shed, threw out a bunch of crap, and had Junk King remove some old lockers and cabinets along the side wall of the garage that I didn't use.   I still need to repaint the inside of the garage, but now I can get both cars in...very tight nonetheless...  I wonder what they had in here 50 years ago. 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[daves87rs]

11 hours ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

I should have done this a year ago but was too burnt out from the move then....shuffled a bunch o' crap to the shed, threw out a bunch of crap, and had Junk King remove some old lockers and cabinets along the side wall of the garage that I didn't use.   I still need to repaint the inside of the garage, but now I can get both cars in...very tight nonetheless...  I wonder what they had in here 50 years ago. 

 

 

Reminds me when things slow down more for me that I need to clean the other side of my garage....One one car in now-want to put another when I make some space.....

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, after finishing the move in June 2017, the garage was full of boxes.  Took until October last year to clear a spot for the Jeep.   After 9 years in the desert w/ carports and parking in the driveway, having a garage again was a novel thing for me..;)

[G. David Felt]

23 hours ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

I should have done this a year ago but was too burnt out from the move then....shuffled a bunch o' crap to the shed, threw out a bunch of crap, and had Junk King remove some old lockers and cabinets along the side wall of the garage that I didn't use.   I still need to repaint the inside of the garage, but now I can get both cars in...very tight nonetheless...  I wonder what they had in here 50 years ago. 

 

This will so make the auto's last longer and be much more comfy come this winter for you.

Awesome move!  

@Drew Dowdell Seems really weird but since the image posting bug, the emoticons now seem to have a bug that if you use a keyboard shortcut it gives the weird image icon and the shortcut for it but does not really post the emoticon.  Yet this time it worked for me. Weird even the menu now has some weirdness to it.

Weird, the image showed fine of my screen capture but submitting it shows the same problem we had before with images. Must be an expansion of the bug in the software.

[balthazar]

[Drew Dowdell]

Sorry guys about the image issues.  I've been trying to get us to some more cost efficient storage but the process doesn't seem to be working. I'm putting it all back to original.

[ocnblu]

I like that new denim-like seat upholstery cloth a lot of the OEMs are using now, it seems it will stay clean looking longer.  I've seen it in the Chevy Equinox, 2019 Santa Fe, and new Ram.  Both the tan and the gray look good, imo.

[trinacriabob]

I decided within the last week that I like center mounted stop lamps all that much more.  They really make a difference as you're driving along, meaning you notice them more instinctively than you do the outboard tail lamps. 

I watched one of those insane fit for YouTube verbal brawls on public transit within the last few days.  Since I wasn't the only one looking down in disbelief and chuckling, it must have been funny.

[ocnblu]

Terrible thing when you sit down on a public toilet and your balls get wet.  Why does the water have to be so darn high.

[balthazar]

1953 Roadmaster ~

[daves87rs]

Enjoying all the classics this dream cruise weekend.....

[Suaviloquent]

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

1953 Roadmaster ~

Like lookatthat.

Pure luxury. Only metal, leather and cashmere carpet. Lovely. 

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

Cool new patents filed by GM for aerodynamic aids.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1118245_gm-files-patents-for-new-active-aerodynamic-aids

Clearly the US is falling behind in technology and leading the world.

In case all you roaling coal lovers think Coal is the future, nope, Natural Gas is especially for electrical production along with wind, solar, hydro, ya know those green energy sources.

[balthazar]

^ Not looking like wind/sun is the future either ? except massive change always takes massive amounts of time.

- - - - -
 

[ocnblu]

If Dodge's smaller truck were out now I'd take a serious look at it, as long as it is available without the silly E-torque crap.

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

If Dodge's smaller truck were out now I'd take a serious look at it, as long as it is available without the silly E-torque crap.

All your future auto's will be made only plug in Hybrid just to make sure you super pucker!  

[balthazar]

The E-TRQ is optional on the '19 RAM ($1995), so undoubtedly it'll be optional on the smaller truck.

[trinacriabob]

Do deer whistles work?  The ones you get on the cheap at chain auto stores?  I know that's a subject of debate.  Do they actually make noise? Just wondering. 

I haven't seen them for a while.  Not that I've been looking for them.

 

[trinacriabob]

Here's another question.  We've all been spotting '70 something boulevardiers which, at the time, were the gold standard for smooth riding cars ... Grand Villes, Sevilles, etc.   Now that I've been in two W-bodies for over 2 decades, would my later W-body cars, which feel very quiet and smooth to me, be smoother than the RWD Cutlass Supremes, Regals, Ninety Eights, or Bonnevilles of the glorious past?  Or would they just feel different?  I imagine their road feel would leave a little something to be desired.

[G. David Felt]

 

[trinacriabob]

Why does my signature link appear to be broken?  This is fairly new ... less than a week.

On 8/20/2018 at 10:05 AM, dfelt said:

In case all you roaling coal lovers think Coal is the future, nope, Natural Gas is especially for electrical production along with wind, solar, hydro, ya know those green energy sources.

 

Lots and lots of wind turbines in and around the Coachella Valley of So Cal (think Palm Springs and surrounding towns).