Last weekend's 24h of Nürburgring race brought a little bit of controversy, not in small part thanks to two GT3 drivers who in the short time of two days managed:
Driver A ignored 9 (nein!) red flags waved at him, had some bullshit excuse and was allowed to race with a 'suspended race ban'. I shall call him Homeslice from now on.
Driver B booted a GT4 car off the track because the low hanging sun blinded him (he's been following the GT4 for a few corners) so when they turned onto a straight, he just nailed the throttle. He got 100 seconds.
Shout to my buddies in a GT4 car that got category 2nd, only because the organizers classified a GT4 Cup car into their group solely on engine size. You could see when they reached the Cup car, it would just catapult out of the corners. No chance so they drove to a safe 2nd.
- Alex Palou got back on form at Road America, winning his 6th race of the year. If Honda can't find a seat for him in F1, his life in America is a pretty good place to be.
- Kyle Kirkwood is on pace to finish 2nd in this season's IndyCar championship, which is one of two requirements for him to get a super license for 2026. The other one is to get some miles in in F1 free practice. I'm not sure if Andretti Cadillac still have a mandate to hire an American driver to partner Valttieri Bottas; if they do then Kirkwood is the frontrunner over Colton Herta, who doesn't have the cash to overcome his lack of consistency.
- Penske's B-team, Foyt, did better than the mothership with both Foyt drivers finishing ahead of all Penske cars. Foyt driver Santino Ferrucci celebrated his podium by chugging a beer thrown down from the crowd: https://youtu.be/CREXIDJb5E0
At least you didn’t go over sticker on the KIA like many did at that time — I’ve heard some horror stories there. It sounds like you got typical Kia dealer behavior losing the one you wanted.
I own the Blue Ray. It is the quintessential 70’s movie. When they broke into the Carter speech and afterward the Secret Service shows up and the guy says that some radicals did it and they were screaming “Ayatollah, Ayatollah” cracked me up then and seems somehow timely today.
They're not that bad in Canada. I much prefer my dealer experiences at Toyota over GM. They don't go over MSRP here. One dealer did demand that extended warranty be purchased but that can be cancelled within 30 days easily.
I’d be nuts about trying to get a good deal at a Toyota dealer because they’ve got to pay their middleman distributor, and that I couldn’t order what I wanted if necessary, even if it actually meant that there would be dealer trades involved. You pick from what they have, or you wait until they have what you want.
Substack pulls more stupid shit outta their ass and turns the “Mailbox” view into something with 0.004-point type, and puts the Submit button for Comments on the LEFT! 🙄🙄🙄🤬🤬🤬🤦♂️🤦♂️💩
My immediate family bought 3 Toyotas and 1 Lexus in the last 6 months. With 3 of them being purchased in the last two weeks. All 4 purchases were because someone on a list backed out or weren't approved once it arrived.
My Tundra had a sold sign on it when I entered the lot. The person backed out before I left. It went up in MSRP $3500 for '25.
A Sienna was a four month wait. Someone didn't get approved.
Another Sienna was just over a month of calling every dealer in a 500 mile radius every week until someone finally couldn't get approved.
My wife regularly perused the Lexus dealers websites for a GX since they came out. There just happened to be one in the background of a recently listed vehicle. She called and it was available (someone backed out). We didn't have our ducks in a row and another salesman got it sold first. But that put us on the list for what would be a two month wait. The salesman told us multiple times we wouldn't believe how many times he could have sold that vehicle.
That has been our experience with our last two Toyotas. Honestly, I'm good with paying MSRP when that is what everybody else is charging and the process is pleasant rather than a battle with a greasy pig.
I feel the same way. Ford and Chev advertising huge discounts but in the fine print it's for cash only. I don't even care to go in. What is the actual price?
I did luck out with 1500 off MSRP on the truck though. The salesman misquoted a credit for a warranty as a vehicle credit. I dropped the warranty and held him to the credit. After a huddle with the sales and finance managers, they okayed the mistake.
On one hand 'Holy Shit!, they're gonna elect a Muslim Che*, mobilize!'. One the other hand, the demographic, social and economic damage has been done. And a large percentage of the NYC cloud people still huff their own farts. I think he may take it.
*Che was a bonafide killer. This guy looks like he mainlines Halal soy.
Mamdani's rise to (probable) power is the latest sad development that makes me ruminate on even the remote possibility that some form of "fascism" may ultimately be necessary to correct the sins of representative democracy...
I know the right to vote is sacrosanct... But, extending that right to all, without at least some qualification beyond age and (ostensibly) citizenship, has inevitably empowered and emboldened certain participants in the process to deliberately and fervently undermine our country's founding principles that aim to foster the greater good for the productive, useful and engaged many.
Paraphrasing Rush Limbaugh, in a nation of such "children" Santa Claus will always win. I would argue that no civilized society can survive that for long without significant and damning consequences.
I’m not a fan of people who were not born in America holding any elected office. I would also exclude any foreign born person from any judge position, right down to traffic court.
I know that would exclude some good Americans, but it would also exclude some very bad people. We have more than enough people living in this country to be exclusionary about certain things.
Rush put it that way the day after either the second Obama election, I think, along with us having gone from a “nation of makers to a nation of takers.”
If it were up to me, the drinking age would be 18. If you're old enough to join the Army, sign a contract, gamble or be sentenced to 20 years, you should be able to drink alcohol.
Che was a killer but most of his victims had no chance of fighting back. If he had been on the right, the left would call him a racist homophobe for his comments about blacks and how he persecuted homosexuals.
Probably the same reason reform-minded Japanese don't want to fix their government: The system has such powerful, entrenched interests that they'd constantly burn their fingers in the attempt.
I think it misses how much of politics has become like those grade school elections - promise the world and get those wide eyed activists to vote in primaries..
It also doesn’t help that most of the city councils are captured by radicals who just perpetuate the dysfunctional machine and “non-profit”groups around it.
Here's a Big Picture question: Why do we allow politicians to lie to us?
In any other industry, such malfeasance would be grounds for fraud lawsuits or arrests. But in politics, we not only expect the practitioners of the art to be dishonest, we excuse them for doing so.
The customers like what they’re selling and don’t focus on the results. Most are not very informed, and like to blame the others for their actions rather than look at track records because they all suck for the most part
Expand this- it is legal for the federal government to lie to you (politicians, 3 letter agencies), and very illegal for you to lie to the feds. That is not government of the people, by the people and for the people.
People dont realize how much the non-profit industrial complex dominates many of these local city races, and the revolving door between them and councils. Folks make $250k+ salaries paid for by taxpayers as grants to orgs that then advocate for them to be elected or promise jobs after they leave politics. NYC is notorious for this since the council members added term limits. They serve 2 terms then go off and join some taxpayer funded “non-profit” and make bank
Them and public employee unions are typically the biggest money and supporters of local elections, which then explains a lot of how our taxpayer money is spent.
NYC has roughly 8.5 million people, and Mamdani got 432,000 votes as of 30 minutes ago. Winning a primary should not be hard, but apparently no one of importance and vision wants to be NYC mayor. Those people of which you speak are probably worth 8 figures or more and don’t want the hassle of being mayor and the downsides to their reputation if it doesn’t go well.
very convenient as my father is getting a replacement colorado to fill in for the one that was destroyed in a car accident last month and the dealer in toronto has a nice red one. hopefully well be able to get it under the price theyre asking
"Cauley beat me like a rug at the SVRA Speedtour three times in a row last weekend, posting 1:25 laptimes around Mid-Ohio"
is this the same radical thats running a tired engine and transmission on worn takeoff slicks? bet if it was freshened up you could nab him
"That’s the ultra-competent Scott Dick driving a Dallara IPS, the V-8 car from the 2007 Indy Lights series"
this is the coolest thing ever and i want one
"it involves yet another 60-something dude being difficult about losing to a girl"
HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU OLD MAN
"grossly distorting publicly-reported sales numbers by registering unwanted new cars as “used cars” then dumping them to the Third World"
serpentza was talking about this process a few years ago. really just shows why you can never trust the chinese about anything ever
"33-year-old Zohran Mamdani is about to run the capital of the world"
run it right into the dirt because hes a retard and so are the people that voted for him. man there really needs to be an exodus of people with his mindset
Update: I decided to return the AMG S 63 Coupe to CarMax. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and it had also had a terrible re-spray on the front bumper that was already peeling and that CarMax deemed as "meeting their standards." I'm out the transport fee from getting the car here, but that's not a huge deal.
Next step: maybe an AMG S 65 Coupe, at some point in the future. But I'm prioritizing other things at the moment, and $70K is a lot to spend for a decade-old German flagship, even with a V12.
I also turned in the Escalade IQ after two weeks of Cadillac having my Lyriq, and will post a pretty thorough review of the former on Substack; look for it soon.
And, finally, the 2005 Phaeton is being weird, because of course it is. When I go to start it, sometimes, it will refuse to acknowledge I'm trying to crank the engine. It will turn on and off just fine, but won't even attempt to crank the engine. This seemed to coincide with car washes or heavy rain, so I'd thought that maybe the sunroof drains were clogged and were letting the KESSY control module under the floorboards flood. But it sat in the sun for three days and still wouldn't start, causing it to need a tow to the specialist. And, surprise, surprise, it started right up and drove off the tow truck under its own power. And also, my VW/Audi specialist informed me that he was booked out until mid-July, so I had to go and pick up the car, anyway. It now sits in the garage, and I'm nervous to drive it in case it refuses to start. I know it's not the brake switch, because you need to press the brake to shift it into neutral for a tow, and it recognizes that just fine. It could be the ignition switch itself, the KESSY unit, or--frankly--anything in between. It could still be that water and corrosion are the issue. But intermittent issues are irritating.
---
As far as purchasing cars goes:
One of my favorite purchasing tactics is when I actually let a dealer find me a loan, and then they try to do tied financing. "Well, your rate is [x], but Toyota really wants you to get the warranty on this new Venza, so if you do, we can lower the rate to [x - y]." In essence, they are agreeing to buy down the loan a bit if I take a warranty, which is higher profit for them. Instead of pointing out how wrong and potentially illegal tied financing is, I just smile, take the lower rate, and then cancel the warranty for a full refund against the balance of the loan. I'm sure it pisses them off, but I don't care.
One area in which I really struggle when I buy older (10+ year-old cars) is being impatient about finding the right car, and settling for something I don't want or that's available. Especially if the car is rare, and especially if I miss out on a better instance of that car earlier. Another thing I'll do is put a ton of money into a car, and then not be satisfied with how it turned out or the experience of it, and sell it at a loss. To wit, when I mentioned tuning my '17 Q7 (which is long gone), my boyfriend said, "Right on! The next owner will sure enjoy that!"
For an example of both bad behaviors, back in October of 2023, there was a 2008 Lexus LS 600h L in Tulsa, and I specifically remember wanting to look at it after we had our meetup there. That one was a gorgeous Jade Green Metallic, had relatively low miles, and--crucially--had had the hybrid traction battery replaced. Well, when I called to inquire about it, they said someone had actually put a deposit on it from the East Coast, and was coming to take a look at it.
Cue me finding an example in Detroit that had more miles, was in Starfire Pearl White (white is almost never my favorite color), and questionable history. But I didn't care. I rushed out and bought it for $11,000...despite the fact that when I got there, the chrome wheels were corroded, the leather was more worn than I'd liked, and the engine seemed to start up a lot more than it should. I'd neglected to check the Lexus Owner's Portal, which will let you input the VIN of any car as though it's yours and instantly see all the dealer visits it's ever had, in detail, including diagnostics for failing components. I also neglected to get the Dr. Prius app and a compatible OBD2 reader, which would have let me test the traction battery, on the spot.
Sure enough, it had a failing traction battery.
$4,200 later, I had a refurbished traction battery from Greentec--great people, btw--and then it was another $1,000 for a replacement set of alloys, in the much more attractive satin silver, 5-spoke format. Plus $500 for a GROM that brought integrated CarPlay to the OEM infotainment system. And $1,000 for a new air strut (the prior one had a leaking damper for the variable damping function) and another $800 for aftermarket control arms.
And then I still didn't like it, didn't think it got the fuel economy that it should have, and wound up selling it for $10,000 on the LR4, which was a nightmare of its own (naturally).
So, here's to new patterns and not doing that from here on out.
I mean, it had the CarMax warranty and would’ve been covered to 125,000 miles (with 55K on the ODO); it was just still not worth what the car cost in exchange for how much fun it was(n’t).
I only suggest this because it happened to me recently, but the lead wire for my Mustang’s starter failed where it attached to the solenoid, and the car had the same problems you’re describing in the Phaeton.
Intermittent start failure, with totally normal starting behavior once service resumed.
You are not alone in this pattern...it's the story of my life buying "fun" cars. Sometimes I do ok; more frequently I lose my ass, your ass, her ass, the dog's ass, etc. My wife says the same thing your fella does..."that didn't last long, I'm sure the buyer will enjoy it." I've definitely jumped on a not great older car just because I want that model and it's hard to find a better one. Oh well.
Nothing compares to actually restoring a car for ass-losing, though. My 1974 Dart Sport, purchased as a partially completed project, was my biggest cash sinkhole ever. I actually sold a fair number of hard-earned Deferred Stock Units to finish that car, which from the perspective of [the current year] was a massively stupid move.
Yet the siren song of Facebook Marketplace calls...there's always another car I want. Much like my romantic life, the next bad decision is just around the corner.
I never buy a car expecting to make money, or break even, or whatever else.
I do have a problem where I buy a nice example of something and then hyper-fixate on making it into this perfect overly nice example. Usually this involves countless hours of hunting down parts on eBay and Facebook.
The end result is typically something I have too much money in and is too nice to use as intended. I’ve done this with everything from an RC car to real cars.
The mayor gets a lot of flack for the BS coming from the city council that really drives a lot of the NYC dysfunction nowadays, there’s truly not much upside
I've been fairly fortunate that my 4 personal car purchases have been quite straightforward:
-my first DEAL out of college on a CPO base model 12 Volvo S60 that had been on the lot for 90 days (OTD at the ask)
- first 21 V60CC bought from the same salesman in November 2020 during the low time of COVID (10% under sticker, 0% finance). It helped that it was the 4th deal we'd done between me and family members.
- 22 Expedition bought in Jan 23, was straight forward invoice price minus a few and a GREAT trade value on my Volvo
- 25 V60 I picked up last month, my buddy is friends with the GM we chatted got a "special" price and a solid trade on the Expedition and was signed and sealed when I drove up to buy it th next day.
I'll say the biggest aspect (beyond relationship, which is key in all business) is knowing the market prices and offers going into the dealer. After that it's all just keeping your head and knowing they're trying to sell you everything.
i was trying to buy an off-lease subaru frontwheeldrive svx and was dealing with an earnest teenage salesman at what i called 'deliverance motors' because of the tooth count of the staff. he quoted me a ridiculous price and when i reacted in astonishment he said 'because the sales manager knows who you are.' i called him back and offered $50 over black book and got it immediately. absolutely wonderful car.
Mamdani differs from your standard-issue Big City Democrat in that he OPENLY espouses socialism. Most try, with varying degrees of determination and success, to hide their socialist leanings.
Most fail.
Socialism is best symbolized by the human landfill that is Rio de Janeiro. You have a few islands of walled-off & guarded opulence, surrounded by a vast sea of grinding poverty & squalor. Isn't that basically New York? Chicago? The whole Goddamn state of California? A playground for the rich and an endless trial for everyone else?
And I'm not talking about the natural results of differences in ambition, personal drive or intelligence a free society encourages. I mean a system so broken it's basically coercion.
None of these people got rich HONESTLY, either. None of them invented or cured or built anything. They all just made backroom deals and shook down everybody not powerful enough to fight them off.
Here's the thing: Too many people these days don't understand either capitalism OR socialism. They think of socialism as a 1980s European welfare state with clean streets, nonexistent hospital copays & efficient subways, and they imagine capitalism to be their cable company, car insurer or health provider jacking up their premiums for marginal service YET AGAIN, seemingly BECAUSE THEY CAN.
So while everybody may be making a mountain out of Mamdani's open socialism, let's not forget the Gavin Newsomes and Eric Adams and Brandon Johnsons (who always struck me as looking like an evil Geordi La Forge, by the way) of the world, who rule over the ruins of once-great places using the same basic ideas, but which they hide behind populist rhetoric.
That was elegant and accurate. Could not agree more. Question - If NYC goes off the rails, do you think Stefanik might have a better chance in the NY governor’s race?
No idea, but if the average citizen of New York state is anything like the guys I worked with Bedford Hills, that place is gonna be dysfunctional till Judgment Day.
Edward O. Wilson, an award-winning entomologist who specialized in the social behavior of ants, said, “Karl Marx was correct: he just applied his theory to the wrong species.”
Socialism/Communism can be disproven by the simple fact that a three-year old very well understands the concept of "mine".
I think everyone is ‘okay’ at it, and the only improvement is more knowledge of what’s going on from his end. We all hear about “crazy” deals from friends, but half the time it’s fake or they miss some key factor.
The most important part is knowing the dealer side financially as much as you can, the more knowledge you have of what’s going on on both ends the better deal you can usually cut. I’ve been lucky to have friends in the business that I can ask for info (or use to get connected with the right folks) and then go into it confident that we’re making a fair deal for everyone.
All that said, I don’t think we’ll ever get near my wife’s deal on her X3 back in 2018 where they found a dealer who needed to move it for some corporate bonus which meant they gave her close to 20k off sticker as “cash” on the deal.
Last weekend's 24h of Nürburgring race brought a little bit of controversy, not in small part thanks to two GT3 drivers who in the short time of two days managed:
Driver A ignored 9 (nein!) red flags waved at him, had some bullshit excuse and was allowed to race with a 'suspended race ban'. I shall call him Homeslice from now on.
Driver B booted a GT4 car off the track because the low hanging sun blinded him (he's been following the GT4 for a few corners) so when they turned onto a straight, he just nailed the throttle. He got 100 seconds.
Shout to my buddies in a GT4 car that got category 2nd, only because the organizers classified a GT4 Cup car into their group solely on engine size. You could see when they reached the Cup car, it would just catapult out of the corners. No chance so they drove to a safe 2nd.
This week in IndyCar:
- Alex Palou got back on form at Road America, winning his 6th race of the year. If Honda can't find a seat for him in F1, his life in America is a pretty good place to be.
- Kyle Kirkwood is on pace to finish 2nd in this season's IndyCar championship, which is one of two requirements for him to get a super license for 2026. The other one is to get some miles in in F1 free practice. I'm not sure if Andretti Cadillac still have a mandate to hire an American driver to partner Valttieri Bottas; if they do then Kirkwood is the frontrunner over Colton Herta, who doesn't have the cash to overcome his lack of consistency.
- Penske's B-team, Foyt, did better than the mothership with both Foyt drivers finishing ahead of all Penske cars. Foyt driver Santino Ferrucci celebrated his podium by chugging a beer thrown down from the crowd: https://youtu.be/CREXIDJb5E0
“…the great Remar Sutton’s Don’t Get Taken Every Time…”
Wouldn’t happen to kin to Willie would he?
You'd think, right? I think he's made jokes about it.
My post may get buried because it’s a Friday, but I’m just learning about the eSkootr Championship:
https://youtu.be/sjUqW7KV21g?si=8IzVmayPGvY4D3KW
This reminds of me when Goped racing was popular in the early 00s.
That's hilarious!
Hmmmmm....is barstool* racing still a thing?
*completely unaffiliated with that Portnoy jackass.
At least you didn’t go over sticker on the KIA like many did at that time — I’ve heard some horror stories there. It sounds like you got typical Kia dealer behavior losing the one you wanted.
Highlander interior looks like a war zone and I turn a blind eye to it.
Growing up my parents solved this by never letting us eat or have fun in the cars.
"Watch out, Marshall Lucky, it's high prices!"
Seeing that image made my day. File that under movies you can't make anymore.
When he shoots Squiggy and says "Jesus Christ", I almost pissed myself.
Same! Blew my mind watching it for the first time as an 8 year old. Watched it recently with my wife, it is still quite entertaining.
AND when Fuchs kicks in his TV!
I die when they load Luke up in the Edsel and are dousing him in gasoline. "Oooooh shit he smells".
Watching it again tonight. “That’s TOO FUCKIN’ HIGH!”
A friend of mine has a VHS copy of "Used Cars," autographed by Kurt Russell.
Watch out for red cars, too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2iT4iVj7uM
I own the Blue Ray. It is the quintessential 70’s movie. When they broke into the Carter speech and afterward the Secret Service shows up and the guy says that some radicals did it and they were screaming “Ayatollah, Ayatollah” cracked me up then and seems somehow timely today.
Is that “Used Cars,” as implied by @Ice Age?
Yes.
My recent negotiations with Toyota and Lexus are as follows:
Here's the price.
Can you do any better?
No.
I despise toyota dealers with a flying passion. I think they're the new GM
They're not that bad in Canada. I much prefer my dealer experiences at Toyota over GM. They don't go over MSRP here. One dealer did demand that extended warranty be purchased but that can be cancelled within 30 days easily.
No, they think they're the OLD GM. As in, Chevy or Pontiac or Cadillac circa 1961.
I’d be nuts about trying to get a good deal at a Toyota dealer because they’ve got to pay their middleman distributor, and that I couldn’t order what I wanted if necessary, even if it actually meant that there would be dealer trades involved. You pick from what they have, or you wait until they have what you want.
Substack pulls more stupid shit outta their ass and turns the “Mailbox” view into something with 0.004-point type, and puts the Submit button for Comments on the LEFT! 🙄🙄🙄🤬🤬🤬🤦♂️🤦♂️💩
I will elaborate.
My immediate family bought 3 Toyotas and 1 Lexus in the last 6 months. With 3 of them being purchased in the last two weeks. All 4 purchases were because someone on a list backed out or weren't approved once it arrived.
My Tundra had a sold sign on it when I entered the lot. The person backed out before I left. It went up in MSRP $3500 for '25.
A Sienna was a four month wait. Someone didn't get approved.
Another Sienna was just over a month of calling every dealer in a 500 mile radius every week until someone finally couldn't get approved.
My wife regularly perused the Lexus dealers websites for a GX since they came out. There just happened to be one in the background of a recently listed vehicle. She called and it was available (someone backed out). We didn't have our ducks in a row and another salesman got it sold first. But that put us on the list for what would be a two month wait. The salesman told us multiple times we wouldn't believe how many times he could have sold that vehicle.
That has been our experience with our last two Toyotas. Honestly, I'm good with paying MSRP when that is what everybody else is charging and the process is pleasant rather than a battle with a greasy pig.
I feel the same way. Ford and Chev advertising huge discounts but in the fine print it's for cash only. I don't even care to go in. What is the actual price?
I did luck out with 1500 off MSRP on the truck though. The salesman misquoted a credit for a warranty as a vehicle credit. I dropped the warranty and held him to the credit. After a huddle with the sales and finance managers, they okayed the mistake.
I just hope shit gets less shitty before the next time Mrs. Duderson wants a 4Runner in a “special” color.
They dusted off and dragged Andrew out of political purgatory, what did they think would happen?
NYC, as always, deserves what happens to them.
Somehow, I think this one could be different. Primary was close and Cuomo still has a line for the general election ballot.
Business community is coming hard after Zohran now
On one hand 'Holy Shit!, they're gonna elect a Muslim Che*, mobilize!'. One the other hand, the demographic, social and economic damage has been done. And a large percentage of the NYC cloud people still huff their own farts. I think he may take it.
*Che was a bonafide killer. This guy looks like he mainlines Halal soy.
Mamdani's rise to (probable) power is the latest sad development that makes me ruminate on even the remote possibility that some form of "fascism" may ultimately be necessary to correct the sins of representative democracy...
Because it is.
('always has been' astronaut meme)
I know the right to vote is sacrosanct... But, extending that right to all, without at least some qualification beyond age and (ostensibly) citizenship, has inevitably empowered and emboldened certain participants in the process to deliberately and fervently undermine our country's founding principles that aim to foster the greater good for the productive, useful and engaged many.
Paraphrasing Rush Limbaugh, in a nation of such "children" Santa Claus will always win. I would argue that no civilized society can survive that for long without significant and damning consequences.
Adams and Franklin knew it and warned us. Hell, Socrates knew it.
I’m not a fan of people who were not born in America holding any elected office. I would also exclude any foreign born person from any judge position, right down to traffic court.
I know that would exclude some good Americans, but it would also exclude some very bad people. We have more than enough people living in this country to be exclusionary about certain things.
Rush put it that way the day after either the second Obama election, I think, along with us having gone from a “nation of makers to a nation of takers.”
If it were up to me, the drinking age would be 18. If you're old enough to join the Army, sign a contract, gamble or be sentenced to 20 years, you should be able to drink alcohol.
But the voting age would be like 55.
Politics is downstream of culture and we’ve totally debased ours.
Most of those “fascist” strongman leaders come in the correct the extremes of the university left that takes over and debases society.
The fun part is when this vanguard never seems to realize how totalitarian and actually fascist they become.
Mamdani went to Bowdoin, as you are probably aware.
Che was a killer but most of his victims had no chance of fighting back. If he had been on the right, the left would call him a racist homophobe for his comments about blacks and how he persecuted homosexuals.
Well maybe Cuomo will run independently and they can have a figurative lady killer and a literal granny killer.
He was also a filthy coward.
Literally. He didn't bathe.
i have no idea why men of importance and vision arent clamoring for the reins of one of the most important cities in the world
Probably the same reason reform-minded Japanese don't want to fix their government: The system has such powerful, entrenched interests that they'd constantly burn their fingers in the attempt.
I think it misses how much of politics has become like those grade school elections - promise the world and get those wide eyed activists to vote in primaries..
It also doesn’t help that most of the city councils are captured by radicals who just perpetuate the dysfunctional machine and “non-profit”groups around it.
Here's a Big Picture question: Why do we allow politicians to lie to us?
In any other industry, such malfeasance would be grounds for fraud lawsuits or arrests. But in politics, we not only expect the practitioners of the art to be dishonest, we excuse them for doing so.
"Why do we allow politicians to lie to us?"
because we havent forced consequences for their actions and as such they are allowed to continue unimpeded
Need to get out the tar and feathers
yeah thats not strong enough of an incentive
With the polarization endemic in the United States, one side would try to do that to the other as soon as they get in.
Oh wait..one side DOES try to do that to the other, yet can (literally, arguably) get away with murder!
The customers like what they’re selling and don’t focus on the results. Most are not very informed, and like to blame the others for their actions rather than look at track records because they all suck for the most part
Low-information voters!
I believe a late radio raconteur invented the term!
Expand this- it is legal for the federal government to lie to you (politicians, 3 letter agencies), and very illegal for you to lie to the feds. That is not government of the people, by the people and for the people.
becuase modern democracy is extremely gay
Non-profits. Source of endless trouble, that lot.
We really ought to be wary of people who claim they're not in it for the money.
People dont realize how much the non-profit industrial complex dominates many of these local city races, and the revolving door between them and councils. Folks make $250k+ salaries paid for by taxpayers as grants to orgs that then advocate for them to be elected or promise jobs after they leave politics. NYC is notorious for this since the council members added term limits. They serve 2 terms then go off and join some taxpayer funded “non-profit” and make bank
Them and public employee unions are typically the biggest money and supporters of local elections, which then explains a lot of how our taxpayer money is spent.
I often think of how financially-awesome my life could be, if only I didn't have a conscience.
Ice Age :
Doing the right thing is like pissing yourself whilst wearing a dark suit :
It gives you a warm feeling but no one else notices .
-Nate
Did you see the clip of the head of the Chicago teachers union smugly say, "Yeah, we do own your kids"?
Oh, and she sends her own kid to a private school.
You can't make this shit up.
the fact that they said that out loud tells me they arent smart enough to care for children
NYC has roughly 8.5 million people, and Mamdani got 432,000 votes as of 30 minutes ago. Winning a primary should not be hard, but apparently no one of importance and vision wants to be NYC mayor. Those people of which you speak are probably worth 8 figures or more and don’t want the hassle of being mayor and the downsides to their reputation if it doesn’t go well.
I, for one, would love to have a "how to buy a new car" column as I seem to pay full retail for everything in life.
"talking about dealer negotiations"
very convenient as my father is getting a replacement colorado to fill in for the one that was destroyed in a car accident last month and the dealer in toronto has a nice red one. hopefully well be able to get it under the price theyre asking
"Cauley beat me like a rug at the SVRA Speedtour three times in a row last weekend, posting 1:25 laptimes around Mid-Ohio"
is this the same radical thats running a tired engine and transmission on worn takeoff slicks? bet if it was freshened up you could nab him
"That’s the ultra-competent Scott Dick driving a Dallara IPS, the V-8 car from the 2007 Indy Lights series"
this is the coolest thing ever and i want one
"it involves yet another 60-something dude being difficult about losing to a girl"
HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU OLD MAN
"grossly distorting publicly-reported sales numbers by registering unwanted new cars as “used cars” then dumping them to the Third World"
serpentza was talking about this process a few years ago. really just shows why you can never trust the chinese about anything ever
heres the older vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SEfwoqKRU8 and heres the vid made just recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvyb9Mp69ew
"33-year-old Zohran Mamdani is about to run the capital of the world"
run it right into the dirt because hes a retard and so are the people that voted for him. man there really needs to be an exodus of people with his mindset
Maybe we need to start a 'Help Jack upgrade his Radical' fund! :-D
not a bad idea
theres gotta be some way to make it quicker and still class legal
Update: I decided to return the AMG S 63 Coupe to CarMax. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and it had also had a terrible re-spray on the front bumper that was already peeling and that CarMax deemed as "meeting their standards." I'm out the transport fee from getting the car here, but that's not a huge deal.
Next step: maybe an AMG S 65 Coupe, at some point in the future. But I'm prioritizing other things at the moment, and $70K is a lot to spend for a decade-old German flagship, even with a V12.
I also turned in the Escalade IQ after two weeks of Cadillac having my Lyriq, and will post a pretty thorough review of the former on Substack; look for it soon.
And, finally, the 2005 Phaeton is being weird, because of course it is. When I go to start it, sometimes, it will refuse to acknowledge I'm trying to crank the engine. It will turn on and off just fine, but won't even attempt to crank the engine. This seemed to coincide with car washes or heavy rain, so I'd thought that maybe the sunroof drains were clogged and were letting the KESSY control module under the floorboards flood. But it sat in the sun for three days and still wouldn't start, causing it to need a tow to the specialist. And, surprise, surprise, it started right up and drove off the tow truck under its own power. And also, my VW/Audi specialist informed me that he was booked out until mid-July, so I had to go and pick up the car, anyway. It now sits in the garage, and I'm nervous to drive it in case it refuses to start. I know it's not the brake switch, because you need to press the brake to shift it into neutral for a tow, and it recognizes that just fine. It could be the ignition switch itself, the KESSY unit, or--frankly--anything in between. It could still be that water and corrosion are the issue. But intermittent issues are irritating.
---
As far as purchasing cars goes:
One of my favorite purchasing tactics is when I actually let a dealer find me a loan, and then they try to do tied financing. "Well, your rate is [x], but Toyota really wants you to get the warranty on this new Venza, so if you do, we can lower the rate to [x - y]." In essence, they are agreeing to buy down the loan a bit if I take a warranty, which is higher profit for them. Instead of pointing out how wrong and potentially illegal tied financing is, I just smile, take the lower rate, and then cancel the warranty for a full refund against the balance of the loan. I'm sure it pisses them off, but I don't care.
One area in which I really struggle when I buy older (10+ year-old cars) is being impatient about finding the right car, and settling for something I don't want or that's available. Especially if the car is rare, and especially if I miss out on a better instance of that car earlier. Another thing I'll do is put a ton of money into a car, and then not be satisfied with how it turned out or the experience of it, and sell it at a loss. To wit, when I mentioned tuning my '17 Q7 (which is long gone), my boyfriend said, "Right on! The next owner will sure enjoy that!"
For an example of both bad behaviors, back in October of 2023, there was a 2008 Lexus LS 600h L in Tulsa, and I specifically remember wanting to look at it after we had our meetup there. That one was a gorgeous Jade Green Metallic, had relatively low miles, and--crucially--had had the hybrid traction battery replaced. Well, when I called to inquire about it, they said someone had actually put a deposit on it from the East Coast, and was coming to take a look at it.
Cue me finding an example in Detroit that had more miles, was in Starfire Pearl White (white is almost never my favorite color), and questionable history. But I didn't care. I rushed out and bought it for $11,000...despite the fact that when I got there, the chrome wheels were corroded, the leather was more worn than I'd liked, and the engine seemed to start up a lot more than it should. I'd neglected to check the Lexus Owner's Portal, which will let you input the VIN of any car as though it's yours and instantly see all the dealer visits it's ever had, in detail, including diagnostics for failing components. I also neglected to get the Dr. Prius app and a compatible OBD2 reader, which would have let me test the traction battery, on the spot.
Sure enough, it had a failing traction battery.
$4,200 later, I had a refurbished traction battery from Greentec--great people, btw--and then it was another $1,000 for a replacement set of alloys, in the much more attractive satin silver, 5-spoke format. Plus $500 for a GROM that brought integrated CarPlay to the OEM infotainment system. And $1,000 for a new air strut (the prior one had a leaking damper for the variable damping function) and another $800 for aftermarket control arms.
And then I still didn't like it, didn't think it got the fuel economy that it should have, and wound up selling it for $10,000 on the LR4, which was a nightmare of its own (naturally).
So, here's to new patterns and not doing that from here on out.
Zee Germans could over-complicate a free weekend stay at the Playboy Mansion, so my advice is to skip the old Benzes.
"A cheap Mercedes will always be the most expen$ive car you ever buy" .
-Nate
I mean, it had the CarMax warranty and would’ve been covered to 125,000 miles (with 55K on the ODO); it was just still not worth what the car cost in exchange for how much fun it was(n’t).
I feel you ~ as long as it's fun, no worries .
Once you begin to not like or actively dislike it, time to let it go .
-Nate
I only suggest this because it happened to me recently, but the lead wire for my Mustang’s starter failed where it attached to the solenoid, and the car had the same problems you’re describing in the Phaeton.
Intermittent start failure, with totally normal starting behavior once service resumed.
That could very well be the problem.
You are not alone in this pattern...it's the story of my life buying "fun" cars. Sometimes I do ok; more frequently I lose my ass, your ass, her ass, the dog's ass, etc. My wife says the same thing your fella does..."that didn't last long, I'm sure the buyer will enjoy it." I've definitely jumped on a not great older car just because I want that model and it's hard to find a better one. Oh well.
Nothing compares to actually restoring a car for ass-losing, though. My 1974 Dart Sport, purchased as a partially completed project, was my biggest cash sinkhole ever. I actually sold a fair number of hard-earned Deferred Stock Units to finish that car, which from the perspective of [the current year] was a massively stupid move.
Yet the siren song of Facebook Marketplace calls...there's always another car I want. Much like my romantic life, the next bad decision is just around the corner.
I never buy a car expecting to make money, or break even, or whatever else.
I do have a problem where I buy a nice example of something and then hyper-fixate on making it into this perfect overly nice example. Usually this involves countless hours of hunting down parts on eBay and Facebook.
The end result is typically something I have too much money in and is too nice to use as intended. I’ve done this with everything from an RC car to real cars.
I'm similarly afflicted, do you think novel pharmaceutical "Autizplexa" might address the root cause of this condition?
I’m likely way behind on your car ownership saga… but what happened to the ES?
Looking at the choices for NYC mayor really tells me that nobody of any sort of quality or intelligence actually wants this job
Because they have quality and/or intelligence. Perhaps it's the only political seat where the graft is outweighed by the various downsides.
The mayor gets a lot of flack for the BS coming from the city council that really drives a lot of the NYC dysfunction nowadays, there’s truly not much upside
Looking at the Dallara--this appears to be a better way to spend $394,000 than any single other vehicle at the owner's Ferrari dealership.
Too true.
But to most Ferrari buyers probably not, wither Ferrari.
I've been fairly fortunate that my 4 personal car purchases have been quite straightforward:
-my first DEAL out of college on a CPO base model 12 Volvo S60 that had been on the lot for 90 days (OTD at the ask)
- first 21 V60CC bought from the same salesman in November 2020 during the low time of COVID (10% under sticker, 0% finance). It helped that it was the 4th deal we'd done between me and family members.
- 22 Expedition bought in Jan 23, was straight forward invoice price minus a few and a GREAT trade value on my Volvo
- 25 V60 I picked up last month, my buddy is friends with the GM we chatted got a "special" price and a solid trade on the Expedition and was signed and sealed when I drove up to buy it th next day.
I'll say the biggest aspect (beyond relationship, which is key in all business) is knowing the market prices and offers going into the dealer. After that it's all just keeping your head and knowing they're trying to sell you everything.
Same here. My last three car purchases went fine - not counting the usurious finance charges, of course.
i was trying to buy an off-lease subaru frontwheeldrive svx and was dealing with an earnest teenage salesman at what i called 'deliverance motors' because of the tooth count of the staff. he quoted me a ridiculous price and when i reacted in astonishment he said 'because the sales manager knows who you are.' i called him back and offered $50 over black book and got it immediately. absolutely wonderful car.
Good to see the term “Fluffer” has been standardized across all industries.
Clear communication is important.
And yet the term is no longer needed in its originating industry.
Now associated with seedier professions.
Mamdani differs from your standard-issue Big City Democrat in that he OPENLY espouses socialism. Most try, with varying degrees of determination and success, to hide their socialist leanings.
Most fail.
Socialism is best symbolized by the human landfill that is Rio de Janeiro. You have a few islands of walled-off & guarded opulence, surrounded by a vast sea of grinding poverty & squalor. Isn't that basically New York? Chicago? The whole Goddamn state of California? A playground for the rich and an endless trial for everyone else?
And I'm not talking about the natural results of differences in ambition, personal drive or intelligence a free society encourages. I mean a system so broken it's basically coercion.
None of these people got rich HONESTLY, either. None of them invented or cured or built anything. They all just made backroom deals and shook down everybody not powerful enough to fight them off.
Here's the thing: Too many people these days don't understand either capitalism OR socialism. They think of socialism as a 1980s European welfare state with clean streets, nonexistent hospital copays & efficient subways, and they imagine capitalism to be their cable company, car insurer or health provider jacking up their premiums for marginal service YET AGAIN, seemingly BECAUSE THEY CAN.
So while everybody may be making a mountain out of Mamdani's open socialism, let's not forget the Gavin Newsomes and Eric Adams and Brandon Johnsons (who always struck me as looking like an evil Geordi La Forge, by the way) of the world, who rule over the ruins of once-great places using the same basic ideas, but which they hide behind populist rhetoric.
That was elegant and accurate. Could not agree more. Question - If NYC goes off the rails, do you think Stefanik might have a better chance in the NY governor’s race?
No idea, but if the average citizen of New York state is anything like the guys I worked with Bedford Hills, that place is gonna be dysfunctional till Judgment Day.
Edward O. Wilson, an award-winning entomologist who specialized in the social behavior of ants, said, “Karl Marx was correct: he just applied his theory to the wrong species.”
Socialism/Communism can be disproven by the simple fact that a three-year old very well understands the concept of "mine".
I will admit I'm very interested in learning about how to negotiate with a dealer. While I'm 'okay' at it, I know I'm no where near being the best.
I think everyone is ‘okay’ at it, and the only improvement is more knowledge of what’s going on from his end. We all hear about “crazy” deals from friends, but half the time it’s fake or they miss some key factor.
The most important part is knowing the dealer side financially as much as you can, the more knowledge you have of what’s going on on both ends the better deal you can usually cut. I’ve been lucky to have friends in the business that I can ask for info (or use to get connected with the right folks) and then go into it confident that we’re making a fair deal for everyone.
All that said, I don’t think we’ll ever get near my wife’s deal on her X3 back in 2018 where they found a dealer who needed to move it for some corporate bonus which meant they gave her close to 20k off sticker as “cash” on the deal.