Well he told me the dash would need to come off as it was broken. Rather than press two buttons for 45 seconds.
A massive difference.
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The Car Thread ... !
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A massive difference.
Not related to cars, but I was looking at the Surface 2 laptop and noticed how Alcantara is used for the palm rests and non-key areas of the Surface's interior minus the screen bezel.
Think I'm the only one truly disgusted by Alcantara used everywhere in cars, especially steering wheels. The idea of grimy germ filled palm rests is disgusting.
Think I'm the only one truly disgusted by Alcantara used everywhere in cars, especially steering wheels. The idea of grimy germ filled palm rests is disgusting.
I see. So he skipped the diagnostics or easiest reset methods. Either didn't want to do it or didn't know about it. My car has a similar way of doing things. You can remove several pieces from the engine bay near the firewall and work in cramped space or do it through the the dash which is faster and cleaner.
Exactly. Either incompetent or crooked.
I might discuss it at my next service, as I believe they charged me £70 for the privilege of looking into it.
@stylinexpatt
A few pages ago in the thread, you mentioned you were considering the Challenger widebody ‘Scat Pack’, just wanted to know if you have any thoughts on the Scat Pack in general or experience? Or what specifically did you like/dislike about it? The Charger Scat Pack is one of four cars that I’m interested in buying, and the one I was expected to test drive actually sold to someone else, so now I’m debating between maybe just considering a 2019 Scat if I decide this is what I want. (There are some new 2018’s around discounted, but nothing local in my area.) The Challenger widebody is not the particular body style I am looking for, but the drivetrain shared with the Challenger is with the menacing 6.4l/8 speed.
[Along with the Dynamics package in -F8 Green-.]
A few pages ago in the thread, you mentioned you were considering the Challenger widebody ‘Scat Pack’, just wanted to know if you have any thoughts on the Scat Pack in general or experience? Or what specifically did you like/dislike about it? The Charger Scat Pack is one of four cars that I’m interested in buying, and the one I was expected to test drive actually sold to someone else, so now I’m debating between maybe just considering a 2019 Scat if I decide this is what I want. (There are some new 2018’s around discounted, but nothing local in my area.) The Challenger widebody is not the particular body style I am looking for, but the drivetrain shared with the Challenger is with the menacing 6.4l/8 speed.
[Along with the Dynamics package in -F8 Green-.]
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I was trying to find a replacement for my aging S4 6MT, but decided to keep it as a second weekend/ winter car and add the polar opposite as my daily work car- a '19 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring. This car is way ahead of the old boring hybrids of the past and actually fun to drive if you're into the technology of it.
@stylinexpatt
A few pages ago in the thread, you mentioned you were considering the Challenger widebody ‘Scat Pack’, just wanted to know if you have any thoughts on the Scat Pack in general or experience? Or what specifically did you like/dislike about it? The Charger Scat Pack is one of four cars that I’m interested in buying, and the one I was expected to test drive actually sold to someone else, so now I’m debating between maybe just considering a 2019 Scat if I decide this is what I want. (There are some new 2018’s around discounted, but nothing local in my area.) The Challenger widebody is not the particular body style I am looking for, but the drivetrain shared with the Challenger is with the menacing 6.4l/8 speed.
Challenger is on hold for time being. Would be nice to get the Widebody Scat Pack though
Fuel economy aside it is a nice and comfortable car. Actually comfortable level is very good as those seats and seem well made for larger people. I am on the smaller side though. The Visibility though is not all that great compared to my current 3 series BMW. Sound of the engine is very nice if you like sound of a V8. Compared to a Mustang and Camaro the good side is visibility and headroom. You have good headroom in a Challenger compared to a Mustang or Camaro. I don't like my head being parallel to the side pillar because then in the event of a rollover I don't want my head to be used as a pillar bar
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Fairly polarizing once you get to see the GT500 in person. And the way Ford has this car set up (i.e Hood/wheels/grill/massive wing), it looks _a lot_ bigger than just your standard GT-S550.
Not interested in the V6, but ‘Plum Crazy purple’ is still my top color for this car. The lighting really morphs the ‘purple’ color in person. {Dodge has some of the best color schemes offered next to Ford in the performance segment.}
Not interested in the V6, but ‘Plum Crazy purple’ is still my top color for this car. The lighting really morphs the ‘purple’ color in person. {Dodge has some of the best color schemes offered next to Ford in the performance segment.}
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Typo, my apologies. Sometimes my iPhone using autocorrect on keypad inputs wrong words. Will fix it, thanks
i dove into a dash board repair project early last summer. not really recommended.
and
despite making notes, taking pictures, it never goes totally back to gather the same way.
and
despite making notes, taking pictures, it never goes totally back to gather the same way.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of Alcantera on laptops or in cars. I don’t like the look or the feel. I also don’t know how you really can clean it, especially on a laptop, which harbor tons of germs. Plastic or metal can be cleaned/disinfected easily.
This along with a few other models back in the late 70's and early 80's was what got me into the Alcantera interior
https://www.classic-trader.com/uk/cars/listing/mercedes-benz/190er/190-e-2-3-16/1986/125040
One of my favorite cars back in the days. Dream car as a teenager
I love old Mercedes. I’d love to buy one but the parking situation where I live isn’t exactly conducive to project cars. I’ve actually thought about renting a garage/garage space outside of the city.
I also love plaid interiors. My ex-girlfriend in high school had her mom’s old 1986 BMW 325 4 door manual with a plaid interior (4 doors of that vintage aren’t common). Her mom was a teacher in town and only drove it a few miles a day for years and eventually it became a third car. It only had like 70k miles if I remember and was in mint condition. Unfortunately someone hit it and that was the end. I actually considered buying it- it needed a hood, bumper, front 1/4 panel, which I imagine could have done fairly cheaply on a ~20 year old car. That was a great little car.
I was looking at possible replacements for my MBP and came across it. I hadn't looked at Surfaces since they first came out many years ago. Once I learned of the material used, I struck it off my list. Much like you, I felt sick at the thought of what it would look like a year from now. My hands don't sweat, but regardless of that, Alcantara and similar materials are germ magnets.
There are ways to disinfect and clean Alcantara and return it to its original look, but they're too labor intensive. It's marketed as a premium surface material, but it's very, very cheap to produce.
I recently bought a Surface Pro (5)... they just came out with the 6 and Costco had a deal I couldn’t pass up. I do a bunch of presentations for staff and patient education at work and the ability to write on screen comes in handy, especially with diagrams. Using the mouse/trackpad to draw on a powerpoint is useless. There’s only one room that I rarely use as it’s off site that has an active stylus enabled monitor as part of the presenter equipment. It’s super old though, the screen is 15” 4:3 ratio (which causes problems with 16:9 PowerPoint files) and the software is often finicky. Some spaces I use have projectors or 55-72” TVs but lack white boards.
I guess the good thing about the Surface is the alcantera keyboard doesn’t have any significant heat generating equipment. When a MacBook gets hot my hands will sweat. But really with or without sweat, the keyboards and upper case of laptops are super dirty.
It was a great era of many European cars, especially Mercedes. Cars were much more simple and elegant back then. I’m not in love with most new Mercedes models.Those cars bring back good memories
When I was very young my uncle had a W216 Mercedes 500SEL. It had that now totally obsolete two tone look- grey paint with that silver-grey lower plastic cladding. We lived close and my cousin and I went to the same school, so we carpooled regularly. I still remember driving in that massive car. The W126 is such a quintessential representation of retro 80’s/early 90’s ostentatiousness, but I love it.
Despite the fact I drive a BMW, for a modern daily driver, I like premium cars that aren’t really showy like BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, etc - like the Land Cruiser, the newer Volvos, or when available the VW Touareg, or even the Land Rover LR3/LR4 aka Discovery 3/4 to an extent. I loved when VW had that quirky phase in the early 2000’s of making relatively affordable but super interesting cars like the Phaeton, Passat W8, and Touareg V10 TDI. But that said I’d love an old restored Mercedes, Jaguar XJ, BMW 3-Series, or Range Rover Classic to drive around. Even an E39 5-series, E38 7-series, or W210 E-class would be cool. My dream Mercedes sedan is a 1963-1981 Mercedes 600, aka the preferred transportation of dictators, but I don’t think dropping $200-300k is very sensible.
I suppose new luxury cars have always stood out, but I feel like older luxury cars had a certain elegance and a type of quality that new cars just don’t have. I think it all changed starting with the 1998 W220 S-class. The older S and 7, plus the Lexus LS, Acura RL, Lincoln LS were basically the last of that long established simplistic look. Before that time the New luxury cars mostly super flashy and the focus is all about technology and sporty performance. All the crazy exterior lighting and interior mood lighting is a bit over the top. Everything is overly styled.
My next car will likely be an XC60, maybe an XC90. It’s hard to overlook the BMW X3 though. The new GLE is the first GLE/ML that I actually think is a nice looking car, so that’s peaked my interest. I’ve always loved the E-class, except the 2009-2016 W212. The Macan and Cayenne are pricey but probably the best in their respective classes.
I kinda wish I had bought this Touareg TDI I looked at in 2014 or 2015, but at the time I couldn’t decide what I wanted. I’m still driving my 2009 E60 535i xDrive. It’s not worth anything but in its old age it’s been surpringly reliable (unlike the first 100k miles) and still feels remarkably modern. In that it’s in very condition and has no problems, there’s been no real impetus to drop 50-60k+ on a new car. I guess that’s what happens when you threaten to buy a new car.
Looks like a cross-pattern design between a Ferrari and McLaren, but more to the affect of being an ‘Electric Supercar.’
Thoughts on keyless entry?
I really thought it was a cool feature, until thieves figured out how to amplify the signal of the key and steal cars with little effort. An uncle of mine had his GLE stolen last night here in London, and its got me a little paranoid about our E-Class. A double click will disable keyless entry until the next time the car is unlocked, but I find it baffling that Mercedes (and presumably other manufacturers) do not offer a way to permanently disable it. Especially in particularly high risk areas like London.
Twice now I've woken to the car alarm going off, I'm beginning to think both times were some ******* taking a chance on it.
I really thought it was a cool feature, until thieves figured out how to amplify the signal of the key and steal cars with little effort. An uncle of mine had his GLE stolen last night here in London, and its got me a little paranoid about our E-Class. A double click will disable keyless entry until the next time the car is unlocked, but I find it baffling that Mercedes (and presumably other manufacturers) do not offer a way to permanently disable it. Especially in particularly high risk areas like London.
Twice now I've woken to the car alarm going off, I'm beginning to think both times were some ******* taking a chance on it.
That sucks. I’ve have many vehicles with keyless entry over the last 10 years and have never had a problem. (Knock on wood)
You addict you. I know which sale you're talking about. I saw it recently. I had to take a hard pass on it because of the limited screen size. I think I'll end up buying a Xeon laptop simply because they last longer. There's two pieces of macOS software I'll be losing but at this point I don't want to take a risk on my MBP needing repairs.
OTOH, DT suggested I could get a Mac Mini through Apple's refurbished program and save a few hundred or more. I do know that Apple like other OEMs tends to replace wear items, like the SSD with a new one, even the power supply. The lack of built in monitor means I can't use it at work unless I find a display switch where I can flip between my desktop and the Mini at will.
I question buying refurbished, but the ability to purchase AppleCare+ with it is rather reassuring. Especially for the simple use case I have where I won't maximize the amount I spent on it AKA getting my money's worth.
Reality is it's a business expense anyway.
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Which BMW was it that piqued your interest? I haven't seen the new GLE/ML aside from pictures, but it looks good. I'm surprised you're going for the Volvo. Your past posts led me to believe you weren't overjoyed with the Chinese acquiring the brand and building most of the cars in China.
New Cayenne is a great car, but much like the Panamara we looked out, I couldn't get over the touch everything syndrome new cars have. I don't want to sound old, but they're not pleasant to touch or actuate, especially when focusing on the road!
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I’m not too concerned with screen size in this case. The iPad Pro is intriguing but I don’t like the lack of a full OS, plus Windows can integrate better with my work apps. I also can’t stand the Apple Pencil doesn’t have an eraser. I always have my 2018 15” MacBook Pro and ThinkPad for other uses.
Most quality monitors these days have multiple inputs. HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort are all interchangeable with a simple adapter or cord with different ends. If you only have one input, you can buy a HDMI switch or KVM switch.
I said the new GLE piqued my interest. I’m not sure they’re out yet. Yeah, Chinese production is weird but the quality seems to be there. I’ve looked at the 2nd gen S60’s made in Belgium (SWB models including the dynamic, R-design, and Polestar) vs. China (LWB/Inscription models) at the dealer and they appear to have the same quality and tolerances. I think the XC60 is going to build in North Carolina plant soon due to tariffs. The XC90 is made in Sweden and will come to NC in a couple years. My biggest complaint is supercharged + turbocharged 4cyl over a 6cyl. Seems like a lot to possibly go wrong.
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That, too. 3 years now. I don't read SwedeSpeed much apart for really old cars being restomodded, so I can't comment on the durability of these new engines.
Yeah, a KVM switch is probably my best bet. Just need to do some research once I decide what I want. I have some older switches but they're ancient.
Yeah, a KVM switch is probably my best bet. Just need to do some research once I decide what I want. I have some older switches but they're ancient.
I guess the reassuring thing is thay Volvo historically has made pretty solid good engines. It’s too bad they stopped making their 5 and 6 cylinder engines, as well as the Yamaha V8 they sourced for the XC90 and S80 (I’m a fan of Yamaha marine engines). The only problem with the 6cyl transverse mounted engines, like the T6 in my GF’s car, is it’s so wide horizontally in a relatively narrow car it impedes the steering radius.
The Drive-E series engines have been around for a few years now and I haven’t heard anything of major concern. The XC90 is very popular here so people seem to be buying them.
[doublepost=1551850925][/doublepost]I’m intrigued about Tesla’s upcoming Model Y release (March 11)- not really so much about the car, rather it’s impact on Tesla financially. They continue to be in a bit of a precarious situation, but I’d be concerned the Model Y is nowhere near production and it’s release may canabalize Model 3/S/X sales which already appear to have deminishing demand, especially the S and X. It’s not really typical for a luxury manufacturer to drop $8000 off their price in the way Tesla has, especially when they claim such interest. I suppose a Model Y reservation fee might yield Tesla more money than selling a $35,000 Model 3, I can’t believe their making much of a margin there. But it will be interesting to see how many people reserve a Model Y considering the less than clean roll out of the Model 3 and the perpetually moving release dates of other products. We’re still waiting for the Roadster and I haven’t heard anything about the Semi in ages- let alone if the technology is even available to meet its specs.