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I went back to the dealer with her - the timing belt was covered for 5 years / 60months or such, and the dealer absolutely knew it - and in a few short minutes they "realized" their mistake. Suddenly they had a crappy old econobox to loan her for the several weeks it would take to fix it. I told them she'll be more than happy to keep the SUV for free in lieu of calling a lawyer, which they accepted.
Had a very ****ty night. My wife is traveling back from Idaho to Georgia via I-90 right now. Last night she had to stop in Wyoming because the cross winds were so severe she was having a hard time keeping our medium sized SUV (Subaru Tribeca) on the road.
Well, she was forced to stop at a rest stop that didn't have cell service and the pay phone in the lobby was not working. We never stop or start a trip without calling and letting each other know where we are. I ended up calling the state police for Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota hoping for no news because in a situation like that no news is good news.
I got a glimpse of what she must have felt like when I was deployed to war zones (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) when I was not able to call for long periods of time. I slept about an hour last night in total and told my boss this morning what was going on and told him I would either be in a bit when I hear from her, or they needed to find a new IT person if things did not go well.
She called at 0630 central time as soon as she had a signal and all is well. She is back on the road now and hating the Wyoming/South Dakota weather and winds.
Not sure why I felt I would share this, but it makes me realize the struggles that loved ones left behind face when others travel for work. Be it military or civilian, when your loved ones are away, it is tough on everyone. I guess I always had the thought "well I am the one in the war zone and that they are fine at home". That is not the case at all.
Be safe out there everyone, someone is wondering if you are safe and when you will be home.
Glad she's ok. For anyone who hasn't driven those roads the wind in Wyo is an all new pucker factor. Spent a few nights stuck in Cheyenne/Casper/Laramie because of the winds, then mix in the blowing snow and it's real bad. Better to pull over and wait then risk it
I'm wondering what it will look like it Denver when I land in a few hours.
Timmyboy,
Are you speaking about fishing in the Owens River?? I know that for a lot of years it flowed directly from Mono Lake to the L.A. aqueduct, but I think that I heard that they finally forced LADWP to release water back to the valley?
that's it, bud... Nothing but barbless hooks, here on out. Cast out whether across from convict(east of 395) or just below Crowley.. Either way, its a win👍 ... Season closes Nov 15th, but Owens is year round. Any of you fish freaks, get your shiat ready for season opener in May. Good time for a GTG😉
Is it new?? Sounds like the stealership saw a pretty girl and hoped to double bill for a engine.
I had a young girl renting a house from me call one winter concerned about making the rent the next month, because her car threw the timing belt and mashed the valves and pistons (Mitsu 3000GT). The car wasn't even a year old, but the dealer told her since it was a "belt" it wasn't covered by the warranty. They put her in a very nice, very new, and very expensive, rental SUV loaner - it was "all they had" - the weekly rental rate was almost as much as her house monthly rate, plus whatever to replace the motor.
I went back to the dealer with her - the timing belt was covered for 5 years / 60months or such, and the dealer absolutely knew it - and in a few short minutes they "realized" their mistake. Suddenly they had a crappy old econobox to loan her for the several weeks it would take to fix it. I told them she'll be more than happy to keep the SUV for free in lieu of calling a lawyer, which they accepted. Took 'em six weeks to fix that car. I told her to sell as soon as possible. Sadly, it's crap like this has me not trusting people I don't know for anything.
Ironically I have such a conversation going on elsewhere right now about this phenomenon. I really pisses me off the way these &%$** see a woman coming in a car and think they got themselves an all paid vacation or something. My then fiance took her 25,000 mile Chrysler (not my idea) to the stealership for state inspection (not my idea and against my recommendation) she came home with a $300 bill...they put spark plugs in it. I let her convince me to not go visit them in person but she no longer takes her car there. Another time (same car) she had a cracked resonator and CJ's tire told her that she needed a $600 exhaust system because it's all welded together. I told her no, no, no so she took it to Monroe shock absorber and sheister garage where they guy told her that CJ's was ripping her off and he could do it for $500. She ended up getting it welded for $50 at a local garage.
Naw, she bought it used - but I find it ironic that I have to keep it bottled in... yet she had a full-on poop upon getting the estimate. She was feeling completely hosed by the used car dealer - but now... all is good again.
This is where I suggest people have a "Spot" personal tracker [LINK].
I own an EPIRB, but it is more for rescue than for family use.
Glad she's ok. For anyone who hasn't driven those roads the wind in Wyo is an all new pucker factor. Spent a few nights stuck in Cheyenne/Casper/Laramie because of the winds, then mix in the blowing snow and it's real bad. Better to pull over and wait then risk it
I'm wondering what it will look like it Denver when I land in a few hours.
You're absolutely right! I've hauled horses across I-80 a few times in Wyoming when it wasn't snowing, but the blowing snow across the road from the previous day snowstorm made the roads just as bad. I'd never want to do that again.
I remember driving through Wyoming one winter when the headwinds were so strong that they caused the cruise control on my 1990 F-150 4.9L to turn off because it was at near WOT for too long. I thought my truck died. I pulled over to the side of the interstate and tried to figure out what went wrong. Eventually I realized it was a safety "feature" and the cruise shut off automatically after ~30 seconds at near max throttle on cruise.
Now those are some headwinds. It had 3.08 gears though...
I drove I-80 from PA to San Francisco in a '68 Buick 225 convertible. Early October, top down all the way. Gorgeous. Four years later came back in '64 Sedan deVille, no a/c, July, hot as heck and the whole of Nebraska and Iowa smelled like cowpoop. Stopped at every KOA I saw for a shower ...
Morniing all. I've now spent two weekends trailering vehicles into and out of Birmingham. Last weekend sort of sucked because it involves a head gasket job on my son's Outback.
HOWEVER, yesterday afternoon was a better towing option. We picked up a 2006 4Runner for my daughter (her purchase) to replace the '06 4R which got totaled in an accident a month ago. She came out spectacularly... the new 4R has 30K fewer miles, never been in an accident, non-smoker vehicle, driven on in Alabama and Georgia, absolutely NO corrosion anywhere, leather instead of cloth, NO sunroof (which I believe to be a better thing because it can never leak if it's not there to begin with), 3rd row seating (which we really don't need), overhead DVD, and here's the real kicker... AND it's not only pristine with brand new tires, it is from the original owner who purchased it from their local Toyota dealer with only 7 miles on the odometer.
Add to that the PO kept meticulous records with ALL recommended Toyota services done on time at that same local dealership.
Add to THAT, my daughter got this new-to-her '06 4R for $1200 LESS than she got from the insurance company for the totaled 4R!
Below is a quick shot (I replaced the original blurry one with this one)!
It was on Craigslist, and you know, Sous, I actually saw the CL ad for this 4R over two weeks ago. I still can't figure out why it didn't sell before I got to it. Because of that, I looked it over very carefully and crawled around all underneath it, but could not identify anything suspicious or in want of repair. I can only say that the Good Lord was looking out for us and holding it until I finally came around to seeing it for what it is... a rare gem of a used vehicle at an excellent value point.
When I first saw the ad, I ignored it because I was trying to get my daughter into a newer '07 or '08 with the extra money we got from the insurance company. However, the prices on the 4R's have really gone up recently, so I finally decided last weekend to drop back and stick with a '06 and just focus on lower mileage and extra amenities to get an even higher resale value than the one which was totaled. That way, my daughter is better positioned to stay ahead of the money game if she has another accident, or at least better protect her investment if she sells and changes vehicles down the road.
So, when I saw the ad again first thing Sunday morning, I contacted the guy. He was bemoaning the fact that "no one has cash" on weekends, and he had a number of people (7-8) who wanted to get him cash on Monday. He even said one lady was supposed to drop off a check that afternoon to replace it with cash on Monday, but he had not received firm confirmation from her yet. I told him that I had the cash on hand from a car-hunting episode the previous week, and if the car was actually as good as it looked and sounded in the ad, that I would be willing to toss in a little above his asking price in exchange for him holding it until we could get there after lunch. He agreed and then held off two more people who contacted him after I did to offer him cash that day, and he held it for me because he had told me he would wait for me. We got there, it was all it was advertised to be, and that's when I was able to verify the 7 miles on the title original he had in hand. We gave him $300 above his asking price, and that still left us $1200 extra from the insurance settlement.
He was completely right, too, in that the thing has really been impeccably kept. Even the carpet under the floor mats have absolutely no discoloration either around the edges or underneath... it looks like brand new carpet throughout. Some of the interior plastic trim has some scratches, and there is one small worn place on the outer edge of the DS leather seat bottom, but nothing ugly or excessive or by any means beyond what you'd expect from a 11 year old vehicle which has been used daily and for family vacation trips.
I've heard stories where people have found vehicles like this, but never been close to one myself. We are very, very grateful.
It was on Craigslist, and you know, Sous, I actually saw the CL ad for this 4R over two weeks ago. I still can't figure out why it didn't sell before I got to it. Because of that, I looked it over very carefully and crawled around all underneath it, but could not identify anything suspicious or in want of repair. I can only say that the Good Lord was looking out for us and holding it until I finally came around to seeing it for what it is... a rare gem of a used vehicle at an excellent value point.
When I first saw the ad, I ignored it because I was trying to get my daughter into a newer '07 or '08 with the extra money we got from the insurance company. However, the prices on the 4R's have really gone up recently, so I finally decided last weekend to drop back and stick with a '06 and just focus on lower mileage and extra amenities to get an even higher resale value than the one which was totaled. That way, my daughter is better positioned to stay ahead of the money game if she has another accident, or at least better protect her investment if she sells and changes vehicles down the road.
So, when I saw the ad again first thing Sunday morning, I contacted the guy. He was bemoaning the fact that "no one has cash" on weekends, and he had a number of people (7-8) who wanted to get him cash on Monday. He even said one lady was supposed to drop off a check that afternoon to replace it with cash on Monday, but he had not received firm confirmation from her yet. I told him that I had the cash on hand from a car-hunting episode the previous week, and if the car was actually as good as it looked and sounded in the ad, that I would be willing to toss in a little above his asking price in exchange for him holding it until we could get there after lunch. He agreed and then held off two more people who contacted him after I did to offer him cash that day, and he held it for me because he had told me he would wait for me. We got there, it was all it was advertised to be, and that's when I was able to verify the 7 miles on the title original he had in hand. We gave him $300 above his asking price, and that still left us $1200 extra from the insurance settlement.
He was completely right, too, in that the thing has really been impeccably kept. Even the carpet under the floor mats have absolutely no discoloration either around the edges or underneath... it looks like brand new carpet throughout. Some of the interior plastic trim has some scratches, and there is one small worn place on the outer edge of the DS leather seat bottom, but nothing ugly or excessive or by any means beyond what you'd expect from a 11 year old vehicle which has been used daily and for family vacation trips.
I've heard stories where people have found vehicles like this, but never been close to one myself. We are very, very grateful.
Really nice find!! Stoked for you. I love hearing stories like this.
Hey everybody, time to go looking for a new Christmas Tree. Been looking at Balsam Hill pre-lits (this one in particular), anybody have any experience with them? Or other pre-lit trees?
Think it was 12 years ago when we got our pre lit tree, on the day after Christmas sales, 12.5' GE 2k lights for $99, dropped from $450, pita to setup and decorate. Takes a full 10 hour day to fluff and decorate it
It was awesome last year when we threw up a "cheap" 6.5' prelit tree we got from the previous year's day after Christmas sale, felt like it took 30 minutes start to finish. Shoot, speaking of tree stuff I need to finish programming the outside lights for this year's display, way behind where I like to be by now
10-26-2017, 01:57 PM
