Drew Dowdell

like I said.... railroad locomotive setup + a battery.....

PC Liquid cooling system, $170

Probably something like

38 tonight.... which reminds me, I need to change out the furnace filters.

Long story: My 1985 Continental was on fire....twice. The first time I was driving along Route 422 about an hour north of Pittsburgh doing about 65mph when all of the sudden I lose all power. I coast as far as I can and come to a stop along side the road. Smoke is pour out from under the car. I get out and look under. My catalytic converters are on fire. A state trouper pulls up just in time and puts the fire out. I have it towed to a Ford dealer. After two days to diagnose, they figure out it's a circuit board attached to the distributer that went bad. Distributer shut down and the engine fed raw fuel into the cats and they caught fire. $522 to fix. I ask for a detailed estimate to see what's on it. Parts...yada yada labor... yada yada then the best part.... $100 to remove my spark plugs, clean them, and reinstall the same plugs. He insisted the plugs would be fouled out. Keep in mind that this isn't the transverse mounted, FWD Continental.... this is the longitudinal mounted V8 with spark plugs so easy to find your grandmother could to a plug and wire job. Dealers will rip you for anything they can. Never did change <or clean> those plugs..... the second time it was on fire was terminal... the wiring harness shorted out and melted.

I purchased both of my vehicles from the same guy at the same dealer. Both times, at the end of the transaction he said "In a few weeks you'll receive a customer satisfaction survey in the mail. If you feel that you need to mark any item less than "completely satisfied" you give me a call and I'll do what it takes to get you to mark it "completely satisfied". Now, I'm not one to take advantage in a situation like that and I think that this particular dealer has always shown me extremely good customer service, however, I could see someone taking advantage of that to get themselves a free tank of gas or whatever. I don't think that is the dealer cheating... I think it's the consumers taking advantage of GM's noose around the dealer's neck. The one time they did screw up, a mistake on the work order caused 3 trips to the service department in what could have been handled in two, I did answer the survey honestly. My salesman called me to ask what had happened and after I had explained, he apologized, sent me a box of candy, and a coupon for a free oil change. I'd feel bad if I took his bonus away over what was a simple mistake, so from now on I'd just call him if I had an issue with the service department. He's shown on more than one occasion that he can make things happen the way I want them to. edit: and he's being super attentive now that my CTS lease is up in under 6 months. He just doesn't know that I'm not getting another new car.

I saw the Opel Astra 3-door in Germany and it is HAWT! especially in black.... really sets off the bits of chrome.

We have liquid cooling for home PCs now.... this should even be that big of an additional cost. It would certainly be less cost than rushing cooler Li-ion batteries to market and then having them fail later. It's a Win-Win-Lose solution. GM wins - We win - Toyota loses

fixed

Inferior cars that Detroit churned out in the past are still hurting the industry's image. Yet Honda has been forgiven for the: SLX Passport First Gen Odyssey First gen RL <210 HP in your top luxury car?!> First gen Legend <OMG! TEH BADeGE EnGINEERING!!!@1!!> Nissan has been pardoned for the: G20 QX4 J30 I30 <OMG! TEH BadGE ENGIENNERING!!!!1!> Axxess Pulsar First Gen Quest Stanza Toyota has been excused for the: Echo Paseo "Van" Tercel T100 ES250 <OMG TEH BaDGE ENGINERRING!11!!!> First Gen IS300 Hyundai gets a pass for: Anything it's ever built. Now I'm not saying that the domestics don't deserve some ridicule for SOME of their past, however, look at this list and keep in mind that Infiniti is barely 15 years old, Lexus is almost 19 and Acura is the oldest at 20. Cadillac is STILL being raked over the coals for things it did 8 years before Acura even existed!!! Furthermore, why do the Japanese makes get a pass for badge engineering when the entire foundation of their luxury divisions started on re-badged De Lux versions of their family sedans. The next person who complains that the Enclave is just a re-badge Outlook I'm going to run over with an ES350.

'85 Toronado. No more car payments for me.

Rear rotors of nearly every car will rust if left to sit, that really is reaching. Even when working properly, I've found the 5-speed in the Accord to be a bit rough. It's shift timing is programmed well, however the feel of the shift isn't smooth at all. No joke, I can shift a 5speed manual smoother than the Accord can shift it's own 5-speed auto. This has always been a nagging point for me with the Accord. It's an otherwise pleasant and competent, if unexciting, car. However, I was raised on Hydromatic smooth shifting. As for GTX's CTS rant. Nearly all of those issues were first year only issues. The engine issues were related to the 3.2 litre engine which has been replaced. Most other issues <with the notable exception of the differential> were addressed by the time the '04s came out. And if the original review is "reaching" about the rotors rusting on the Accord, then the CTS rant is "reaching" with the stupid clock sync issue. My '04 CTS has been nearly flawless, having only a sunroof switch replaced in 3 1/2 years.

Who builds Toyota's diesels for Europe then?

eh Bring back Studabaker, Packard, Hudson or Nash first.

You are one lucky college freshman.

Matador Volare Pacer LeCar LUV

Don't lie Sen. Craig.

Best quote in a long time.

With the Reliant, I always think of:

I wonder if there is a funny smell in the trunk.

done

So, remove the Sequoia and you have a maximum spread of 10 inches over 7 SUVs? Rav4, Highlander, RX, FJ, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, LX

This is BMW's Gremlin. And X5 with the ass chopped off.

Congratulation BMW, you've managed to make an SUV with even less utility than the X3. Oops... sorry, it's a Sports Activity Coupe.... with... uh... four doors. eh hem... let me try this again. Congratulations BMW, you've managed to make up an acronym, SAC, that is even more insipidly stupid than the GM's CSVs. Crossover Sport Van? yeah, that was dumb.... Sports Activity Coupe...with 4 doors? Dumber..... way. Hey ladies.... wanna come check out my SAC? This ridicule almost writes itself.