Cory Wolfe

What I don't understand with CR lately is the heavy bias toward the audio reliability. It may be an annoyance but I don't see how it can make a company like Ford, which was once in their top 10, drag along in the bottom three. It's not a reliability thing, it's an annoyance in design sort of thing.

Well, seemingly the only way I will ever get my money's worth from this car is if it's totaled - due to its inflated retail value that only exists in a dream. Not that I want to involved in an accident again...

It'll be a good test of Toyota's reputation.

Hah, I still haven't owned a car that I've driven for more than 2 years. Owned and not driven is another story, but that doesn't count. So far... Avalon - 1 year, 5 months - 28k mi. Legacy - 1 year, 2 months - 30k mi. CRX - 2 years, 3 months - 10k mi. (Driven for total of 6 months) Golf - 1 year, 7 months - 20k mi. (Driven for total of 1 year) Cobalt - 1 year, 3 months - 32k mi. Jetta - 3 years, exactly - 14k mi. (Driven for total of 7 months) Cutlass - 1 yeah, 9 months - 8k mi. (Driven for total of 9 months) Millenia - 4 years, 3 months - 15k mi. (Driven for total of 1 year) Grand Am - 2 years, 6 months - 3k mi. (Driven for total of 3 months)

Thank ya, thank ya... again. Also, of note, I've resumed employment, atleast temporarily. This also marks the quickest I've ever landed a job. Dubois recently just added a Papa John's to their resume of Pizza joints and somehow I missed seeing any job openings being posted. I decided to post on their Facebook Tuesday, saying "If you need any more delivery drivers, I'm interested!" and quickly got a response telling me to stop by and fill out an application. Did just that yesterday, received a call an hour later, basically hired me over the phone without an interview, and today, I had my first day. Didn't expect that. Anyhow, delivering pizza should allow me to catch myself back up until something desirable presents itself. Might get some odd looks in the mean time delivering in a fully loaded Avalon, though.

Yep, that's it.

I have to admit... I subscribe to Consumer Reports. It's hard to find detailed ratings, places like JD Power really don't go into enough specifics. I say I find they're methods of predicting reliability and coming up with overall ratings seem off. You'll have a vehicle that gets a mostly perfect score and it will be listed as "below-average" for their overall score/predicted rating. Hard to see the logic in it.

The beak isn't that bad. Certainly not bad enough to overlook the rest of the vehicle.

I think I just died. This has to be Eminem's best song since... 2001? I'm really looking forward to his new album.

Freehand, but I used Google images for references.

Halloween is nearing... and my front porch has been adorned fittingly.

Just for fun...

I currently have a year old Samsung Galaxy S3. It's been a good phone, but not completely perfect. Once upon a time the phone decided it needed to reboot on its own and in doing so, decided that I would be better off with a clean slate and erased all of my info, pictures, music, etc. I've been a little soured since then (and not a fan of Verizon's back-up service that rarely works). Other than that little quibble and little glitches in Samsung's software (I've been using Go Launcher as a free alternative to Touchwiz), it's been okay. I have noticed it likes to consume 80% of my RAM consistantly, as well, and no amount of clearing processes through a task manager (I use Clean Master) seems to have a lasting effect without restarting the phone. What I would like to change the most about my phone is something that could have been implemented from the start: The quad-core processor they neglected to give to the U.S. market S3's. Perhaps it could have kept up with Samsung's suffocation software. While I am no fan of Apple, they do know how to deliver a consistent product that always works fluidly (just don't ask it to Navigate). Despite having 1GB less memory and only a dual-core processor, the iPhone 5 manages a higher CPUmark rating than any Android phone while the Android phones score higher on the Passmark rating of the overall system. I haven't seem what the ratings are for the iPhone 5s, however, so that may change. I'm sure Google could deliver an equally as consistent and fluid product if they built an entire Android phone themselves rather than outsourcing to various manufacturers for their Nexus line. Google could even do better in the market it already owns if they limited how much a vendor or manufacturer could mess with the pure Android experience, but that would also hinder the appeal in Android's vast options for customization. Course, now that Google acquired Motorola, we may very see that. The Moto X is already a good start. Oh, and for that it's worth, I like the Windows 8 phone software. What I don't like is the complete lack of apps that doesn't seem to have changed much in over a year now. That and no Windows phone has been a truly well-designed phone as of yet. Nokia has something with their Lumia line, but their much too bulky. The 1020's is clearly understandable through with its massive camera.

It won't be missed. Chevy should have never introduced this car with that as the sole offering initially.

Yeah, I wasn't sure what to expect with the 1.8l, but it's doing rather well. I wanted him to get the 1.4l Turbo, but I'm not sure if it would have really been worth the $800 upgrade. It's plenty peppy as is and I was able to manage nearly 10 MPG over its highway rating. I'd say it was a good choice for him.

Thank ya, thank ya... I'll try to stick around more reliably now I'm no longer in a living hell.

I'm not so sure about that price. That seems rather steep, all things considered. For around $68k after the tax credit, you have an impractical coupe with slightly more thrust than a Volt with a similar electric range. While it's not completely fair to compare it to a Tesla Model S, you receive a far more practical vehicle with performance to match its price tag, which according to Telsa, starts at $71k before the tax credit. And with an electric range of 208-265 miles and Tesla's rapidly expanding supercharger network, I'm not so sure range anxiety is a valid reason to want the ELR instead. I also think its pretty telling that Tesla outsold the Volt through the first half of the year, despite its $30k premium.

I honestly expected the Grand Cherokee or Range Rover to be selected.

The Outlook never really fit him, he was crazy to buy it. He mostly just bought it for the fact that it was AWD.

While I'm at it, I should update you guys on what Josh drives. Having done the switch between his Civic, Tiburon, and Outlook, he decided he didn't really need the extra space of a massive Lambda. Back in March, he traded it in for his first new car, one that is decidedly smaller. As you can see, he bought a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic LT. He decided to buy one with the 1.8L and 5spd manual. Options include the 16" wheels and fog light package, as well as the Mylink premium audio system. After 10k miles, he's pretty happy with it, though not as happy as he could be. He's had to have it in to the dealership 3 times for warranty work thus far. First two times for a faulty clutch pedal that was at first just greased (Dealership didn't really try to fix it) and the second time it was replaced like it should have been the first time. The third trip to the dealership was due to a Stabilitrak sensor that failed. Other than that and random interior rattles, it's been a good car for him. He averages 35 MPG even without the turbo engine and I've personally attained as high as 44 MPG on highway trips (with the A/C on I might add).

Figured I would add this to the official member's garage. After 30k miles, I haven't had a single issue, but boy is it ever boring to live with. Currently averaging a little over 27 MPG on regular. The average would be a little lower had my Galaxy S3 not decide to reset itself a few months back, losing all the data I recorded since I purchased it. Unfortunately, one of the reasons I purchased the vehicle was for reputation for low depreciation. Apparently, that doesn't pertain to the Avalon and Kelly Blue Book is nothing but a world of lies. My real world value averages about $5k less than KBB claims, which is utter crap.

Name: Toyota Avalon Limited (2005) Date Added: 10 October 2013 - 06:18 PM Owner: blackviper8891 Short Description: Purchased May 2012 - Currently Own View Vehicle

Oops... I sort of forgot about this place until Drew sparked my memory. So yeah, I suppose an update is in order for those who don't follow me on Facebook. After Detroit, the $h! sort of hit the fan for my life. Finances became tight as I sought to pay down my debts (a.k.a. reduce the amount owned on my Avalon due to its not-so-sterling depreciation) and suddenly my job turned into a living hell. I managed to put up with it until the middle of summer when I finally had enough and quit. Needless to say, the experience has soured my views on ever working in a pharmacy again. Once I was out of that place, I had a gracious offer from a well-known friend to do a little photography of the automotive spying variety. As much as I wanted to make it work, I couldn't afford the move with the way my finances were. Now, after a few months, I remain unemployed, but somewhat supported by my significant other. Speaking of which, I've had a sort of up and down relationship with him this year but we've worked the majority of the kinks out. Over two years in, we are the happiest we've been since we met, save for a petty argument over who keeps things more tidy every now and then. Also of note is a little contest I entered and recently won. Jalopnik held a contest to see who could design the best race track as inspired by GT6's track creator as part of the inaugural Jaloplik Film Festival. Using MS Paint as my canvas, I crafted the best track I could imagine and submitted it for Jalopnik's approval. Apparently, all the editors loved it and deemed it the winner. Below, is my entry and what I won. Basically, it's a Human Racing GT chassis with a Thrustmaster T500 RS wheel set as used for Gran Turismo's Nissan GT Academy. Jalopnik also had it signed by a dozen or so people including Kazunori Yamauchi (GT's Creator), and Ken Block, among others. Overally, it's a pretty cool piece that takes up alot of space, but I don't care. It's too awesome to hide. So yeah... Hi, How're doin?

Having driven a Sonic with the 1.4T, I can most certainly say I had 6 gears to play with.

Having all the bells and whistles may be nice, I would just make sure it doesn't sacrifice any other qualities that would be important in a commuter car. Namely, gas mileage and cost to upkeep would be on my list. I would also take into account depreciation, since not all vehicles depreciate at the same rate. It's always a smart idea to research the depreciation of any vehicle you're interested in, not to mention reliability and whether they offer free service for a period of your ownership. All in all, buy a Toyota. Actually, don't. They are boring as nails, even loaded up. I bought mine strictly for the reasons someone would if they didn't care about cars. Honestly, going for a lovingly CPO vehicle is probably the best bet, as long as its a vehicle that is not only smart, but something you can truly enjoy no matter what you use it for. You'll get the satisfaction of knowing you'll have the coverage you need (CPO vehicles tend to have excellent extended warranties) without taking the depreciation hit of putting endless commuter miles on it.