Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

I love the idea of "courtesy car".
Here this is very rare and only if you have a very expensive car that is being fixed under warranty.
 
Private shops with courtesy cars are great because you never know what you’ll get.
 
I did pay 15 euros to have it for the afternoon, so maybe the term isn't quite correct :D
 
The courtesy car at a rural ford dealer in Montana was a 2001 Grand Marquis with 130k on the clock.
 
I did pay 15 euros to have it for the afternoon, so maybe the term isn't quite correct :D
"Cheap rental" would be more appropriate.
 
I've been watching a youtube channel called "Matt's Off Road Recovery" that's ran by a towing company out of Utah that also does off road recovery using (mainly) an XJ Cherokee and a trailer. Basically, this is the guy you call if you're stuck or broken down on an offroad adventure. I know @Blind_Io has opinions about the guy's work and safety precautions, but I still enjoy watching grown men play around in the mud. :p

Anyway, I keep seeing these two or four-seater ATV:s failing in several ways. Wheels and control arms coming off, transmissions grenading, driveshafts popping out, etc. Some of them don't even have the power to make it up a hill without getting bogged down in the soft sand. "1000 H.O" written down the side sounds cool until you realize it's a 1 liter engine in a vehicle that seats four.

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They also have the same centrifugal transmission you find in twist-and-go scooter. The amount of money people around here pour into those things is nuts. I've seen some of those 4 seat models with more money into the shocks and springs than I have into my entire Xterra. Some of these builds can approach $65,000 once they buy the vehicle, suspension, tires, and engine/transmission upgrades.

And pretty much every single one of them is driven by a dickhead who is constitutionally incapable of following Tread Lightly when in the back country. I absolutely hate UTV/Side-by-sides more than any other vehicle.
 
I'm assuming $65k buys you the mother of all Wranglers. What's the point of one of these then?
 
Because you put your $65,000 toy in your $50,000 toy-hauler fifth-wheel towed by your $80,000 GMC Denali HD pickup and you live in a $850,000 house but don't have more than $1,500 in savings in case of an emergency.
 
Because you put your $65,000 toy in your $50,000 toy-hauler fifth-wheel towed by your $80,000 GMC Denali HD pickup and you live in a $850,000 house but don't have more than $1,500 in savings in case of an emergency.


Preparing for a disaster is no fun and therefor not going to happen.
 
They are counting on more of the "End of the World/Fall of Civilization" type of disaster in which the toys matter but the debt doesn't.
 
I've been watching a youtube channel called "Matt's Off Road Recovery" that's ran by a towing company out of Utah that also does off road recovery using (mainly) an XJ Cherokee and a trailer. Basically, this is the guy you call if you're stuck or broken down on an offroad adventure. I know @Blind_Io has opinions about the guy's work and safety precautions, but I still enjoy watching grown men play around in the mud. :p

Anyway, I keep seeing these two or four-seater ATV:s failing in several ways. Wheels and control arms coming off, transmissions grenading, driveshafts popping out, etc. Some of them don't even have the power to make it up a hill without getting bogged down in the soft sand. "1000 H.O" written down the side sounds cool until you realize it's a 1 liter engine in a vehicle that seats four.

View attachment 3557633

That's my favorite Youtube channel now. He's local to me. In about 30 minutes I can be to the dunes where he recovers all this broken garbage. It's not exactly a glowing advertisement for the durability of UTVs.
 

















Guy on Jeopardy got grilled for his choice of car, a panamera, by Trebek for being slow to 0-60 (5.6s). He retorts with "But I have a family".

Me:

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The automotive equivalent of a bow thruster.
 
I am Very Glad I can function basic car repair now because shit happens like the the fiat's wiper being loose??? For some reason?? I had to tighten it? Can you imagine having to take the car in for something so damn stupid in a pandemic? Confidence that I can actually fix things might bite me in the ass later, but as for now it's less anxiety for me.
 
I saw shiny and fairly recent quad cab Chevy Silverado parked on a handicap spot outside the door at the hardware store today. This is considered a BIG truck around these parts, and at first I figured the owner just parked wherever the hell they felt like. Then noticed that the drivers door was open... in a weird way.

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I had seen a guy in an electric wheelchair in the store a few minutes earlier. I guess he might have something to do with the truck. :p
 
I saw shiny and fairly recent quad cab Chevy Silverado parked on a handicap spot outside the door at the hardware store today. This is considered a BIG truck around these parts, and at first I figured the owner just parked wherever the hell they felt like. Then noticed that the drivers door was open... in a weird way.

View attachment 3557685

I had seen a guy in an electric wheelchair in the store a few minutes earlier. I guess he might have something to do with the truck. :p

I have never seen this before, that's really cool!
 
 
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