The Garage

[GburgNatsFan]

Right? It's like they have to start over and make a small pickup.

I used to have a Ranger. Never should have sold it.

The new ranger looks bigger than the f150 that was around the last time they sold the ranger. I tried to convince my wife to let me get a Tacoma when we got rid of our Bmw, but I ended up with an odyssey

[skippy1999]

Right? It's like they have to start over and make a small pickup.

I used to have a Ranger. Never should have sold it.

Weren't Rangers and Mazda b2300's the same truck?  My husband had a Mazda for years that never gave us a hint of a problem, he gave it to my son when he turned 16 and he abused that truck for 5 years and it was still running like a champ when he traded it in, seriously one of the best vehicles we ever had.   

[GburgNatsFan]

Yep.

Weren't Rangers and Mazda b2300's the same truck?  My husband had a Mazda for years that never gave us a hint of a problem, he gave it to my son when he turned 16 and he abused that truck for 5 years and it was still running like a champ when he traded it in, seriously one of the best vehicles we ever had.

[varoadking]

The new ranger looks bigger than the f150 that was around the last time they sold the ranger. I tried to convince my wife to let me get a Tacoma when we got rid of our Bmw, but I ended up with an odyssey

It's generally more rewarding to ask for forgiveness than permission...

[imref]

The new ranger looks bigger than the f150 that was around the last time they sold the ranger. I tried to convince my wife to let me get a Tacoma when we got rid of our Bmw, but I ended up with an odyssey

my wife drives the odyssey, i got the truck.

[HalfSmokes]

my wife drives the odyssey, i got the truck.

I wish, we do our cars on a cycle, so new car every five years and get rid of the oldest. The new car spends five years as the family car and then five years as the commuter- the upshot is that there no room for a fun car

[GburgNatsFan]

I'm 58 and just now getting to the point where we can consider a fun car.

I wish, we do our cars on a cycle, so new car every five years and get rid of the oldest. The new car spends five years as the family car and then five years as the commuter- the upshot is that there no room for a fun car

[imref]

I'm 58 and just now getting to the point where we can consider a fun car.

My last 'fun' car was a 2004 Acura TL that I bought new, i sold it in 2015 for the truck.  I kind of which I had kept it for the kids, but I couldn't afford to keep it idle for 3 years, and I needed the trade-in money.  It was a blast to drive though.

[tomterp]

The new Odyssey apparently is lush with electronic family related stuff, like a camera for the back rows so mommy can see what the little rat Jimmy is up to in the way back.  Also a speaker system for communicating directly with the back row crowd without having to shout.   I'd be more on board with a robust catheter system.

[HalfSmokes]

The new Odyssey apparently is lush with electronic family related stuff, like a camera for the back rows so mommy can see what the little rat Jimmy is up to in the way back.  Also a speaker system for communicating directly with the back row crowd without having to shout.   I'd be more on board with a robust catheter system.

Pretty sure that's the 45k veraion. Id be happy if they just made heated seats half as good as my Subaru

[tomterp]

Pretty sure that's the 45k veraion. Id be happy if they just made heated seats half as good as my Subaru

I have them in the base "Sport" CC, but the car has leather-like seats and they are cold as hell to sit in initially compared to cloth seats. 

[HalfSmokes]

Our Subaru has what passes for leather and they kick in almost instantly and strongly. On the Honda, you turn them on and 15 minutes later you kind of feel it

[imref]

I have them in the base "Sport" CC, but the car has leather-like seats and they are cold as hell to sit in initially compared to cloth seats. 

My 2011 Odyssey only has seat heaters on the bottom and they take forever to warm.  My Colorado has back and bottom heaters that get toasty in a matter of minutes.

[mitlen]

My 2011 Odyssey only has seat heaters on the bottom and they take forever to warm.  My Colorado has back and bottom heaters that get toasty in a matter of minutes.

1st world problems         My '97 Saturn warms in the summer and cools in the winter.    I do have 4 by 60 A/C.    Put the four windows down and go 60 mph.    That's real livin'.

[tomterp]

1st world problems         My '97 Saturn warms in the summer and cools in the winter.    I do have 4 by 60 A/C.    Put the four windows down and go 60 mph.    That's real livin'.

I'm sad that you felt you had to explain this, but of course you probably DID have to explain it for most.

My 63.5 Ford Falcon (260 V8, 2-speed automatic) had that type of A/C (though 2 x 60).  My 74 Vega  had real A/C but it cut the power available to the drivetrain by 40%. 

[mitlen]

I'm sad that you felt you had to explain this, but of course you probably DID have to explain it for most.

My 63.5 Ford Falcon (260 V8, 2-speed automatic) had that type of A/C (though 2 x 60).  My 74 Vega  had real A/C but it cut the power available to the drivetrain by 40%. 

Lot of yunguns TT that didn't know a time when ya had to pay extra for white walls, a radio, A/C, automatic, etc.   

[imref]

We went to the car show last night.  It wasn't very crowded but the show is much smaller this year than in year's past.  Jeep is down to a couple of cars in the entrance area.  No Mercedes, Cadillac, Mitsubishi, and probably other vendors I didn't notice.  Land Rover and Jaguar had driving courses (anyone over 21 could drive the Land Rover course while one could only be a passenger on the Jaguar course but the waits for each were around an hour.) 

The highlights for me were getting to see the new Ford Ranger (though it was on a stage an inaccessible), the 100th Anniversary edition and ZR-2 editions of the Chevy Colorado, the Acura NSX (locked unfortunately), and the Toyota fuel cell car.  In addition they DC area Mustang owners club was there with about 25 or so vehicles from various years including several new Shelby's and a 1966 Shelby GT350.  The exotic car display was the same as last year but was still impressive with a Ferrari Enzo, a 512, and a F40, as well as a Countach and various other Ferraris, Lambos, Aston Martin's, and MacLarens.  They also had a decent assortment of Bently and Rolls Royces (including a $200k Bentley SUV).

Unfortunately no Veyrons, and for obvious reasons, no Teslas (this is an auto-dealer sponsored show).

[mitlen]

We went to the car show last night.  It wasn't very crowded but the show is much smaller this year than in year's past.  Jeep is down to a couple of cars in the entrance area.  No Mercedes, Cadillac, Mitsubishi, and probably other vendors I didn't notice.  Land Rover and Jaguar had driving courses (anyone over 21 could drive the Land Rover course while one could only be a passenger on the Jaguar course but the waits for each were around an hour.) 

The highlights for me were getting to see the new Ford Ranger (though it was on a stage an inaccessible), the 100th Anniversary edition and ZR-2 editions of the Chevy Colorado, the Acura NSX (locked unfortunately), and the Toyota fuel cell car.  In addition they DC area Mustang owners club was there with about 25 or so vehicles from various years including several new Shelby's and a 1966 Shelby GT350.  The exotic car display was the same as last year but was still impressive with a Ferrari Enzo, a 512, and a F40, as well as a Countach and various other Ferraris, Lambos, Aston Martin's, and MacLarens.  They also had a decent assortment of Bently and Rolls Royces (including a $200k Bentley SUV).

Unfortunately no Veyrons, and for obvious reasons, no Teslas (this is an auto-dealer sponsored show).

Thanks for the review.    Think I'm headin' down tomorrow.    Lookin' forward to seein' my Jag.

[imref]

Thanks for the review.    Think I'm headin' down tomorrow.    Lookin' forward to seein' my Jag.

one more thing to make sure you check out: across from the exotics is an "art of motion" exhibit that featured artists working on automotive related art, or creating art on automobiles.  One guy was there creating drawings using a sharpie on a Smart Car, another was doing a mural of Mohammed Ali on the hood of another car.  Definitely worth seeing.

[mitlen]

one more thing to make sure you check out: across from the exotics is an "art of motion" exhibit that featured artists working on automotive related art, or creating art on automobiles.  One guy was there creating drawings using a sharpie on a Smart Car, another was doing a mural of Mohammed Ali on the hood of another car.  Definitely worth seeing.

IIRC there was a demonstration like that last year as well.   

[tomterp]

Thanks for the review.    Think I'm headin' down tomorrow.    Lookin' forward to seein' my Jag.

Me too, though not the Jag part.  I'm about 2 years away from my next one, time to start thinking ahead.

[mitlen]

Virginia Geezer Alert:

Took my car for inspection and a few other things.    Came out and didn't see the inspection sticker.    I was ready to go back into the shop but saw the sticker on the driver's side.    Turns out (and I do remember readin' this) that any vehicle (windshield stickers) with an expiration date in 2019, the state inspection sticker will be placed in the lower left part of the windshield instead of the middle.    I guess the old placement messed up rich people's collision sensor.

[varoadking]

Virginia Geezer Alert:

Took my car for inspection and a few other things.    Came out and didn't see the inspection sticker.    I was ready to go back into the shop but saw the sticker on the driver's side.    Turns out (and I do remember readin' this) that any vehicle (windshield stickers) with an expiration date in 2019, the state inspection sticker will be placed in the lower left part of the windshield instead of the middle.    I guess the old placement messed up rich people's collision sensor.

That's gonna throw everything off...likely gonna need to get the wheels re-aligned...

[HalfSmokes]

That's gonna throw everything off...likely gonna need to get the wheels re-aligned...

Not to mention the perpetual expired stickers - those are hard to peel off, our guy just puts the new on top of the old

[mitlen]

That's gonna throw everything off...likely gonna need to get the wheels re-aligned...

Now the car is unbalanced like its owner.     Frankly, it has a bad look.    My windshield now looks like the back of one of those trailers that track everywhere the owner has gone   ....   "Oh look, there's the county sticker."   ....   "Hey, he's been to the inspection station."   ....  "Wonder if he's been to Yellowstone."   .....       Maybe I can put my on the other side of windshield to balance it out.   

Word is Loudoun CO is gonna do away with the sticker and still charge a fee to process it like they were sending me a sticker.