Random Thoughts Thread

[Robert Hall]

I like the Model S styling, but the other models don't appeal to me at all.  And I really don't like having all the controls on a touch screen.  I like the tactile feel of conventional controls.  My Jeep has a lot of controls in the touch screen, but mostly they aren't the most essential features.

[G. David Felt]

@Robert Hall @oldshurst442 I am excited to see what the Dash is like in the Hummer EV by GMC. I like the peeks they have shown so far of the open air roof design.

Ford Mach e I like also, a nice blend between traditional and tech. You have manual controls on the Steering Wheel and digital on the center screen.

Rivian is again like the Mach e with manual controls on the steering wheel, digital on the center dash, but to me a much more Luxurious interior than anything Tesla offers.

I honestly can see both of you in a CPO EV.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, David said:

@Robert Hall @oldshurst442 I am excited to see what the Dash is like in the Hummer EV by GMC. I like the peeks they have shown so far of the open air roof design.

Ford Mach e I like also, a nice blend between traditional and tech. You have manual controls on the Steering Wheel and digital on the center screen.

Rivian is again like the Mach e with manual controls on the steering wheel, digital on the center dash, but to me a much more Luxurious interior than anything Tesla offers.

I honestly can see both of you in a CPO EV.

Love the dash on the Rivian...kind of almost Volvoish...I like the light colors and the light wood.  And I do like that green exterior color you posted a while back.

[Robert Hall]

 If I were to trade my Jeep on something late model from another car maker right now, I'm not sure what I'd go for..got to think about it. 

[G. David Felt]

Cool sounding updates for the Gladiator and Wrangler for 2021 model year. Seems more V8 power will be on tap for those wanting it.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-jeep-wrangler-updates-ford-bronco-report/

[smk4565]

7 hours ago, David said:

One has to wonder with all the new startups and china pushing to expand outside china, what the numbers for everyone will end up being in 10 years.

Current as of Q2 2020:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/343162/market-share-of-major-car-manufacturers-in-the-united-states/

Global market share:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/316786/global-market-share-of-the-leading-automakers/

One has to wonder about the thinking of the badge snobs when Mercedes is below Chevrolet in global market share.

@smk4565 As much as you talk about how great MB is globally, they have smaller market share than many other lesser brands. Care to try to explain that?

QUESTION to EVERYONE!

What do you think it will take for an AMERICAN Auto Company Ford or GM to be truly global again?

Mercedes cars cost more than Chevrolet or Kia.  Notice that Mercedes is #1 in global market share for luxury brands.

 

Also Tesla is worth more than Toyota or VW and worth worth and GM, Ford and FCA combined.

[balthazar]

Merceds isn't a luxury brand; it's a mainstream brand that also sells luxury vehicles.
Rolls, Bentley, Porsche... these are luxury brands.

Huge clue; no pedo vans.

[balthazar]

Ooof- that Mach-E interior just ruined the vehicle for me (I think the exterior looks pretty decent as a current vehicle).
- - - - -
When GM was banging on all cylinders and every brand fought everyone else :

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by balthazar

[riviera74]

Back then, Chevrolet BY ITSELF was 30% of the US car market.  It literally was every make for itself.

[ccap41]

On 7/10/2020 at 4:28 PM, USA-1 said:

Yeah, Ford is hurting pretty bad. Seems like they should have phased out cars instead of shocking the company revenue by just dumping them all at once. Hopefully that's all it is. 

They didn't dump them all at once. The Fusion is still in production...for another couple of weeks.

On 7/10/2020 at 5:36 PM, David said:

Editorial on why Ford should build a Raptor Mustang.

What are your thoughts? Should ford have a Raptor version of Mustang and what about the rest of the product line? Every SUV/CUV should they have a raptor package like GM does with SS?

https://www.thedrive.com/news/34703/why-ford-must-build-a-mustang-raptor

Story is about a new auto site that tracks down cheap manual track time type auto's.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/34727/this-site-tracks-down-all-the-cars-with-manual-transmissions-under-5000

GM only has one vehicle with "SS". 

Ford has done the "Sport" or "ST" on almost their entire lineup though. 

On 7/10/2020 at 5:46 PM, USA-1 said:

Jeez, is the bleeding ever going to stop at Nissan, pushing -40%?! 

That's what happens when one of their biggest buyers goes out of business..Hertz. ?

[Robert Hall]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

Merceds isn't a luxury brand; it's a mainstream brand that also sells luxury vehicles.
Rolls, Bentley, Porsche... these are luxury brands.

Huge clue; no pedo vans.

Bentley and Porsche are part of VWAG, they have VW Commercial for the vans.

[balthazar]

Aaaaaand- that’s a different brand.

[G. David Felt]

16 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

GM only has one vehicle with "SS". 

In the past they used to have SS on every product line and that is what I am relating to, Ford and GM have both used their performance labels on the whole product lines then none, then one, etc. that is all.

Just now, balthazar said:

Aaaaaand- that’s a different brand.

Totally agree, Mercedes is a mainstream brand as you stated with a few luxury models as they also sell commercial utility to passenger Mercedes vans on the same lot as an A, B, C, E and S series.

I have not seen a single Porsche, Rolls or Bentley entry level auto or utility van with those badges.

[Robert Hall]

12 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Aaaaaand- that’s a different brand.

Exactly. Thus they don't have the need for Bentley pickups or vans.   Like with Cadillac, there is  Chevy and GMC for the commercial vehicles.  Different approach.

Mercedes has long had the duality in their reality--luxury sedans, coupes, sporty models with a long history of commercial vehicles.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Robert Hall

[daves87rs]

Just a thought-

I would rather have the brands spoken about here than having some up and coming price pointed Chinese junk.

My worry is this is where the EV models are headed....people more concerned about the price than if it good or not, a la Amazon......(maybe they will sell them there).....

[Robert Hall]

9 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

My worry is this is where the EV models are headed....people more concerned about the price than if it good or not, a la Amazon......(maybe they will sell them there).....

Yeah, I could see EVs being commodity appliances.   But are enough people willing to drop $40k or more on an unknown brand appliance?   Maybe if they are made available as monthly subscriptions/leases... I could see someone 'subscribing' to an EV online, have it delivered to their house, then use it for a period of time (24 months?), subscription is up, it gets picked up and disposed of, a new, improved one is dropped off....just like a phone... strange new world..

Edited July 13, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

A world of ENDLESS payments for minuscule differences. Poor financial strategy.

[ocnblu]

I found my next one!  What do you guys think?

 

[oldshurst442]

     @ocnblu     

What I think?     

Answer:

   

Edited July 13, 2020 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

7 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

I found my next one!  What do you guys think?

 

It’s so you.  

[balthazar]

8 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Exactly. Thus they don't have the need for Bentley pickups or vans.   Like with Cadillac, there is  Chevy and GMC for the commercial vehicles.  Different approach.

You're having a different conversation.

[Robert Hall]

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

You're having a different conversation.

There are many conversations.

[balthazar]

There are, but you responded to just 1.

[G. David Felt]

Welcome @balingtwineau ?

[USA-1]

11 hours ago, ccap41 said:

They didn't dump them all at once. The Fusion is still in production...for another couple of weeks.

That's what happens when one of their biggest buyers goes out of business..Hertz. ?

Pretty close to dumping them all at once you have to admit. Fusion was pretty much the only one they held in production until now.

Yeah, Hertz filed for Ch. 11 reorganization BK so didn't exactly go out of bus., but yes probably one of their largest "customers" commercial fleet accounts since rental fleet sales is their main sales model  

[oldshurst442]

I just want to mention that...

Mercedes was a true luxury brand.  But then again, all horseless carriage automobile manufacturers in the late 1890s and early 1900s were luxury brands as it were only the rich that afforded and bought these new contraptions.  

Remember, 'twas Henry Ford that wanted to produce and sell an automobile for the masses and perfected the production line to get the cost/unit down on his Model T for the everyday people to afford a car...

With that being said...Mercedes/Benz/Daimler (like I give a shyte who bought who and what was what???!!!) STOPPED being a luxury brand, STOPPED being a car manufacturer May 8th 1945. 

A couple of years after that, thanx in part to American and British business interests, and American and British governments on behalf of Americans and British, Mercedes-Benz started building cars again.  But NOT luxury cars.  Cheap and affordable econoboxes for Germany's new reality...

Thanx in part to WESTERN CAPITALISM and for us to show those dastardly Russian Commies who is best. Western Germany was inundated with money to build up West Germany for us to show them Ruskies what Capitalism is all about...to show them that Communism sucks...

East Germany got the shyte because The Russians wanted to PUNISH Germany.  We in the west wanted to show up the Russians. We treated our enemy just 5 years before as our BFF.  The Russians though...they didnt forget.  Up until 1990, the Russians didnt forget...

In other words.   Lots and lots of money was subsidized to Mercedes to build this

In order for us to show up this

But make no mistake about it...

Mercedes Benz was no longer a luxury car maker.  It was a mainstream econobox maker that got Western money to rebuild a former car maker in hopes of returning a profit, but mostly to shop up Communism with a couple of high falutin' vehicles...

The thing is...the cars below were the REAL reality of Mercedes Benz in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s...

Mainstream mediocrity selling to the working class...

 

And livery sales...

Edited July 14, 2020 by oldshurst442

[USA-1]

On 7/12/2020 at 3:44 PM, David said:

 

Ford Mach e I like also, a nice blend between traditional and tech. You have manual controls on the Steering Wheel and digital on the center screen.

Rivian is again like the Mach e with manual controls on the steering wheel, digital on the center dash, but to me a much more Luxurious interior than anything Tesla offers.

 

No more "dfelt" huh? End of an era

I definitely would prefer the horizontal landscape setup touchscreen on the Rivian if it has to be nearly the size of my computer monitor over the vertical portrait setup Ford has with the Mach-e Stang and Tesla for that matter, too obtrusive.

Edited July 14, 2020 by USA-1

[oldshurst442]

9 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

No more "dfelt" huh? End of an era

He grew up now.  More mature.    

USA-1:    "Hey Dfelt.  All grown up and going to town. Look at this. End of an era. 

                 DFELT!   Hey OH!!!!   

                 Come ere!!! "

Dave:      "Let me say hello.   Hey USA!  How are ya!"

USA-1  "Come over here!   Havent seen you in 6 phoquing years.  End of an era, Jesus Christ!  Your name looks terrific!  How you feelin?!"

Dave:   "Watch the name! Watch the name!" 

USA-1: "You little Dfelt you!  I know you all my life. End of an era.  You gettin' too big for me, now."

Dave:  "Dont go bustin' my balls USA, Okay?!"

USA-1:  "Hey, if I wanted to bust your balls Id call you phoquin' DeeFelt."

Dave:  "Im no longer Dfelt, man!    Just Dave!  I dont do DFELT no mo."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[daves87rs]

4 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Pretty close to dumping them all at once you have to admit. Fusion was pretty much the only one they held in production until now.

Yeah, Hertz filed for Ch. 11 reorganization BK so didn't exactly go out of bus., but yes probably one of their largest "customers" commercial fleet accounts since rental fleet sales is their main sales model  

I was really hoping they were going to keep the Fusion around at least a while longer. Folks are going to need affordable rides- and the trucks/CUVs are going to be expensive even on leases. (Unless they starting giving them away) The Fusion would give them that option without really losing money (cheap updates) for the folks with a very tight budget.

As cool as the Bronco is- cost is still going to be an issue....

[oldshurst442]

@ocnblu

This was my inspiration.

 

[ccap41]

9 hours ago, USA-1 said:

I definitely would prefer the horizontal landscape setup touchscreen on the Rivian if it has to be nearly the size of my computer monitor over the vertical portrait setup Ford has with the Mach-e Stang and Tesla for that matter, too obtrusive.

I agree with the horizontal setup. If the vehicle is wide enough, I think it looks better and is probably easier to quickly glance and navigate as your eyes don't need to drop and come back up as much to get back to the road. 

The Rivian is full-size truck sized though, compared to the Mach-E. it doesn't look like you can turn the screen in the Mach-E and have it make sense. 

[trinacriabob]

Happy Bastille Day, C&G folks ... whether or not you're a Francophile doesn't matter.

France is also red, white, and blue (realistically blue, white, and red) and gave us the Statue of Liberty, too, not to mention an incredible chunk of our vocabulary - cachet, rendezvous, guillotine, RSVP, libertine, attache', hors d'oeuvres, etc. 

Took 3 years of it in high school.  Good times.

[G. David Felt]

I have now realized a new found respect for those that loose a hand. Had carpal tunnel surgery last Thursday and have had to learn to work pecking the keyboard with my left hand, eat as a lefty, drive as a lefty, etc. Wow, talk about taking for granted having two hands.

Fingers feel amazing as no numbness or tingling. 

[G. David Felt]

13 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

He grew up now.  More mature.    

USA-1:    "Hey Dfelt.  All grown up and going to town. Look at this. End of an era. 

                 DFELT!   Hey OH!!!!   

                 Come ere!!! "

Dave:      "Let me say hello.   Hey USA!  How are ya!"

USA-1  "Come over here!   Havent seen you in 6 phoquing years.  End of an era, Jesus Christ!  Your name looks terrific!  How you feelin?!"

Dave:   "Watch the name! Watch the name!" 

USA-1: "You little Dfelt you!  I know you all my life. End of an era.  You gettin' too big for me, now."

Dave:  "Dont go bustin' my balls USA, Okay?!"

USA-1:  "Hey, if I wanted to bust your balls Id call you phoquin' DeeFelt."

Dave:  "Im no longer Dfelt, man!    Just Dave!  I dont do DFELT no mo."

 Nice one, but I never go by Dave, I am DAVID, Introverts tend to be Dave, Extroverts tend to be David. Ya should know that by now about me!  

[Robert Hall]

45 minutes ago, David said:

 Nice one, but I never go by Dave, I am DAVID, Introverts tend to be Dave, Extroverts tend to be David. Ya should know that by now about me!  

You changed your handle on here, I see..

[G. David Felt]

20 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

You changed your handle on here, I see..

Yes, decided I would be transparent on my actual name. 

Grew up in a group of 7 David's, 3 went by Dave, very soft spoken, introverts, but nice guys. The other 4 of us are clearly extroverts and much louder and aggressive. We still get together every so often and hang out talking about the past. Very interesting paths we all have taken.

David is me!  Like you, figure it was time to just go with my name than anything else Robert.

Hope your having a good week. I am, work is going well, as I poke poke poke with my left hand.  

[Robert Hall]

4 minutes ago, David said:

Yes, decided I would be transparent on my actual name. 

Grew up in a group of 7 David's, 3 went by Dave, very soft spoken, introverts, but nice guys. The other 4 of us are clearly extroverts and much louder and aggressive. We still get together every so often and hang out talking about the past. Very interesting paths we all have taken.

David is me!  Like you, figure it was time to just go with my name than anything else Robert.

Hope your having a good week. I am, work is going well, as I poke poke poke with my left hand.  

Yeah, I did that with my username a year or so ago, got tired of Cubical and Moltar.  Rob or Robert, never, ever Bob. 

Hope your hand heals well.   I'm wondering if I'm developing arthritis...after a day of computing, my right middle finger (and only that finger) gets very painful.   Not sure if it's from typing or mousing, though I tend to use the Mac trackpad more than the mouse (that is mostly thumb movements).

Edited July 14, 2020 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, I did that with my username a year or so ago, got tired of Cubical and Moltar.  Rob or Robert, never, ever Bob. 

Hope your hand heals well.   I'm wondering if I'm developing arthritis...after a day of computing, my right middle finger (and only that finger) gets very painful.   Not sure if it's from typing or mousing, though I tend to use the Mac trackpad more than the mouse (that is mostly thumb movements).

Do you ever wake up in the morning with Numbness or tingly fingers? If so that is carpal tunnel early stages, get a hand brace to sleep in. Did wonders for my left hand, but the right being dominate had to be fixed with surgery.

[G. David Felt]

Gotta Love tech and the improvements that come with it. Checked and saw that via Frontier, I was paying $105 a month for 500 mbps / 500 mbps. I now just got updated to 1000/1000 or Gigabit speed for $90 per month.  

[USA-1]

9 hours ago, ccap41 said:

 the Mach-E. it doesn't look like you can turn the screen in the Mach-E and have it make sense. 

Then it should be smaller. IMHO it's just poor R&D with the interior in general. Screen looks too high on the dash and like they just copied Tesla with a giant distracting screen seemingly bubble gummed to the dash.

[USA-1]

16 hours ago, daves87rs said:

 (Unless they starting giving them away)

Ford is basically giving cars and trucks away. I just saw a commercial where if you lose your job within the first year of purchase or lease from Ford Credit you can just return the vehicle to your Ford dealer. Pretty desperate move, but seeing the sales numbers it's not surprising. 

[ocnblu]

10 hours ago, ccap41 said:

The Rivian is full-size truck sized though

Shorter but wider than a Tacoma or Colorado.  Kinda puny for a "fullsize".

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, David said:

Gotta Love tech and the improvements that come with it. Checked and saw that via Frontier, I was paying $105 a month for 500 mbps / 500 mbps. I now just got updated to 1000/1000 or Gigabit speed for $90 per month.  

I need to be faster.....

[USA-1]

17 hours ago, daves87rs said:

 (Unless they starting giving them away)

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2020/06/29/ford-promise-offers-peace-of-mind-to-potential-car-buyers.html

[riviera74]

1 hour ago, David said:

Gotta Love tech and the improvements that come with it. Checked and saw that via Frontier, I was paying $105 a month for 500 mbps / 500 mbps. I now just got updated to 1000/1000 or Gigabit speed for $90 per month.  

Too bad I cannot see Gigabit speeds for less than $113/month using Xfinity.  Having said that, they did discount it to $80/month for 12 months.  CenturyLink DSL is stuck at 25Mbps and would cost about $70/month.  LAME

[daves87rs]

2 hours ago, USA-1 said:

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2020/06/29/ford-promise-offers-peace-of-mind-to-potential-car-buyers.html

Very interesting.

Hope that does not get abused.....

[ykX]

13 hours ago, USA-1 said:

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2020/06/29/ford-promise-offers-peace-of-mind-to-potential-car-buyers.html

Maximum 15k per transaction, so you buy lets say a $35k vehicle and within a year you loose your job.  You still will owe at least $25k on a loan and they will cover up to $15k.  So you loose your vehicle AND will still owe about 10k in loans.

How does it help people?

Edited July 15, 2020 by ykX

[balthazar]

214 HP, 280 TRQ, maybe 200 mile range.... $185,000 base price.
Not doing much to advance the cause.
 

[ccap41]

15 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Then it should be smaller. IMHO it's just poor R&D with the interior in general. Screen looks too high on the dash and like they just copied Tesla with a giant distracting screen seemingly bubble gummed to the dash.

i know what you mean but then people will complain it's "too small". There's no solution that will please everybody. 

1 hour ago, ykX said:

Maximum 15k per transaction, so you buy lets say a $35k vehicle and within a year you loose your job.  You still will owe at least $25k on a loan and they will cover up to $15k.  So you loose your vehicle AND will still owe about 10k in loans.

How does it help people?

You don't owe 25k...??‍♂️

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Shorter but wider than a Tacoma or Colorado.  Kinda puny for a "fullsize".

Yeah, after reading some, it seems to split the difference between mid-sizers and full-sizers. 

[ykX]

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

You don't owe 25k...??‍♂️

If you loose your job you can sell that vehicle, and most likely end owning way less than 10k, probably loose just few grand, no more.