I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, and
just found out that the insurance company is totalling it. Bummer, since
it was a perfect car for me now - my mileage has dropped significantly
since I work from home, and it was a second car/long trip car. 52 MPG.

I was at 181,000 miles and was still running off the original brake pads
- the regenerative braking works wonders for preserving the brakes.

Now, I need to figure out what to buy. My wife has an Acura MDX, so we
have an AWD 7 passenger vehicle for the snow and for taking our family
places - there's 5 of us and 2 dogs.

I need a sedan or 4 door hatch that gets great gas mileage and is small
enough to park easily.

Hoping the used car market had settled down somewhat.


... Abandon desire
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Re: Totally
By: poindexter FORTRAN to All on Thu Aug 10 2023 07:11 am

I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, and just found out that the insurance company is totalling it. Bummer, since it was a perfect car for me now - my mileage has dropped significantly since I work from home, and it was a second car/long trip car. 52 MPG.

Sorry to hear. :( Are you okay?

Now, I need to figure out what to buy. My wife has an Acura MDX, so we have an AWD 7 passenger vehicle for the snow and for taking our family places - there's 5 of us and 2 dogs.

I need a sedan or 4 door hatch that gets great gas mileage and is small enough to park easily.

Hoping the used car market had settled down somewhat.

What about another (used) Prius? Sounds like those get better gas mileage than a lot of other cars.

The VW Golf has been one of my favorite cars on the market, but unfortunately VW no longer sells the base model in the US. They only sell the GTI and R models here now. But I like that they're fairly samll cars (easy to park), and I think VW tends to use smaller 4-cylinder turbo engines these days and that they get fairly good gas mileage, for a purely gasoline car.

Also it seems that people in the US tend to like bigger cars, SUVs, and trucks, so it's getting harder to find smaller cars as car companies just aren't selling as many smaller cars in the US these days.

Nightfox
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poindexter FORTRAN wrote to All <=-

Now, I need to figure out what to buy. My wife has an Acura MDX,
so we have an AWD 7 passenger vehicle for the snow and for taking
our family places - there's 5 of us and 2 dogs.

I need a sedan or 4 door hatch that gets great gas mileage and is
small enough to park easily.

Hoping the used car market had settled down somewhat.

Get a 4-5 year old BMW 328. Decent gas mileage and quicker than most.



... I was wondering why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
=== MultiMail/Linux v0.52
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I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, and

I know it's normal, but that's such a weird phrasing. Somehow, cars just kinda crash themselves, when we talk about them.

But, regardless, that had to have been an unpleasant day, so my condolences. I tend to think about that when going past crash sites -- even if no one is injured, and damage is minimal, the people involved are having a bad day.

just found out that the insurance company is totalling it. Bummer, since

Aww.

I need a sedan or 4 door hatch that gets great gas mileage and is small enough to park easily.

Hoping the used car market had settled down somewhat.

And getting another plug-in hybrid isn't the obvious answer? Though, I suppose it really does depend on what sort of deals you can find, and, yeah, I have no idea on the market, at the moment.

Or in general, I suppose. But hopefully there's something interesting in your neighborhood.

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Re: Re: Totally
By: Adept to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Aug 11 2023 01:27 pm

I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, and

I know it's normal, but that's such a weird phrasing. Somehow, cars just kinda crash themselves, when we talk about them.

I'm not sure what you mean about the phrasing.. How does it imply that the car crashed itself? I don't think that's what the phrasing says. I think it gets the point across and can be easier than saying something like "I crashed my car into another car" or "someone else crashed their car into mine" etc..

Nightfox
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Re: Re: Totally
By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Aug 11 2023 07:37 am

Get a 4-5 year old BMW 328. Decent gas mileage and quicker than most.

I like BMWs, but I've always been lerry to buy even a used one, as I worry that maintenance on BMWs (both parts and labor) could be more expensive than average with them.

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
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I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, a I'm not sure what you mean about the phrasing.. How does it imply that the car crashed itself? I don't think that's what the phrasing says. I

Think of it this way -- imagine if it was a drunk driver who caused the damage. Would we say, "I was in an accident", or would we say, "A drunk driver crashed into my car"? Even if the damage was exactly the same?

think it gets the point across and can be easier than saying something

Quite possibly. But, from the phrasing, it very well could be a car that was driving itself.

I've sometimes tilted at windmills a bit on this, but mostly because of how news articles tend to use this sort of passive language with cars, outside of drunk drivers or extreme negligence.

But if a bicyclist crashed, people probably wouldn't say, "my bike got into an accident and now I have to get a new frame.". And news articles don't use that passive language, either.

With cars, things are generally a step removed, with passive phrasing. And that seems weird to me.

But, then again, people drive cars and ride bikes, and _that_ is like driving on a parkway and parking on a driveway.

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Re: Re: Totally
By: Adept to Nightfox on Fri Aug 11 2023 06:40 pm

I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius,
a

I'm not sure what you mean about the phrasing.. How does it imply that
the car crashed itself? I don't think that's what the phrasing says. I

Think of it this way -- imagine if it was a drunk driver who caused the damage. Would we say, "I was in an accident", or would we say, "A drunk driver crashed into my car"? Even if the damage was exactly the same?

Seems like splitting hairs there, and I'm not sure what difference it makes, unless you specifically want to make the point that it was a drunk driver. If you're just explaining why you're injured, for instance, do you really need to mention that it was a drunk driver? I'd think it can suffice to say "I was in a car accident".

Quite possibly. But, from the phrasing, it very well could be a car that was driving itself.

Maybe, but self-driving cars are a relatively new thing (and personally I don't know anyone who has one). When people say "I was in a car accident", I think it's fairly well understood that people were probably driving the cars involved. When self-driving cars become a lot more common, I think it could become more of a question.

I've sometimes tilted at windmills a bit on this, but mostly because of

"Tilted at windmills"? I've never heard that before..

But if a bicyclist crashed, people probably wouldn't say, "my bike got into an accident and now I have to get a new frame.". And news articles don't use that passive language, either.

We wouldn't say that because it wasn't just the bike that got into an accident.. You were riding on it, so I'd probably say "I was in a bike accident" or "I was in an accident while riding my bike" or something similar.

Nightfox
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Hello Nightfox,

11 Aug 23 08:30, you wrote to Gamgee:

Re: Re: Totally
By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Aug 11 2023 07:37 am

Get a 4-5 year old BMW 328. Decent gas mileage and quicker than
most.

I like BMWs, but I've always been lerry to buy even a used one, as I
worry that maintenance on BMWs (both parts and labor) could be more expensive than average with them.

my advice is to never buy german cars. <flame on> :)

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

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Re: Totally
By: Roon to Nightfox on Fri Aug 11 2023 10:07 pm

I like BMWs, but I've always been lerry to buy even a used one, as I worry
that maintenance on BMWs (both parts and labor) could be more expensive
than average with them.

my advice is to never buy german cars. <flame on> :)

My last car was a 2009 VW Rabbit (AKA Golf). I had it for 14 years, and it was a pretty good car..

Nightfox
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I like BMWs, but I've always been lerry to buy even a used one, as I
worry that maintenance on BMWs (both parts and labor) could be more expensive than average with them.

They do tend to be pretty costly in that department but they are otherwise fantastic cars and I've never met anyone disappointed with a Beemer.

My wife and I are on our 4th. We've leased the last three, though, so we don't really worry about maintenance stuff.

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Nightfox wrote to Gamgee <=-

By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Aug 11 2023 07:37 am

Get a 4-5 year old BMW 328. Decent gas mileage and quicker than most.

I like BMWs, but I've always been lerry to buy even a used one,
as I worry that maintenance on BMWs (both parts and labor) could
be more expensive than average with them.

Yes, that's a valid point, for sure. At least for breakdown type problems
that require a dealership visit. As for routine stuff like oil and tires,
not really any different than any other car. My wife drives a 2015 model
that we bought new, and have had zero issues with. Of course, YMMV, and
it's a crapshoot with most any brand, IMHO.



... Dawn crept across the lawn, searching for her car keys.
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Adept wrote to Nightfox <=-

I was in an accident with my well-loved 2014 Toyota Plug-in Prius, a

I'm not sure what you mean about the phrasing.. How does it imply that the car crashed itself? I don't think that's what the phrasing says. I

Think of it this way -- imagine if it was a drunk driver who
caused the damage. Would we say, "I was in an accident", or would
we say, "A drunk driver crashed into my car"? Even if the damage
was exactly the same?

I could see it being said either way.

think it gets the point across and can be easier than saying something

Quite possibly. But, from the phrasing, it very well could be a
car that was driving itself.

Not sure how you're getting that. I don't read that at all from the phrasing.

But if a bicyclist crashed, people probably wouldn't say, "my
bike got into an accident and now I have to get a new frame.".

And.... he didn't say "my car got into an accident...". He said (right there above) that "I was in an accident...". You're crossing things up somehow.

<SHRUG>



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Nightfox wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

Sorry to hear. :( Are you okay?

Fine - it was a low speed collision.

What about another (used) Prius? Sounds like those get better gas
mileage than a lot of other cars.

I looked around - I like the looks of the plug-in models, they have
nicer wheels and brushed trim in places, but the benefit of the plug-in
battery is minimal, around 10 miles. That was nice for me, since I do a
lot of errand running now that I work from home.

I don't know if I'd get another one, though - might be time for a
change. I could spend a little more than I got in the payout on a same
year non plug-in with 100K miles.


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my advice is to never buy german cars. <flame on> :)

Atomic Batteries to Power, Tubrbines to Speed, Flame On? :P

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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Seems like splitting hairs there, and I'm not sure what difference it

Seems like, sure, but when people accept lots of death and destruction from cars, but get upset about a bicyclist going 10mph through a stop sign, it can seem like car drivers get a pass with phrasing like "accident" being the default, rather than "crash".

But I _absolutely_ know that a large portion of people who would read through this would view it as splitting hairs.

But I'm being pedantic about phrasing of words. There's basically no case where someone is doing that, that it's not splitting hairs. Though this is probably more important than when I rant against using "ur" to mean "your", but that's grammar, rather than meaning.

Anyway, I should probably drop this, soon, before people get irritated by it. If someone _is_ irritated, my apologies.

I've sometimes tilted at windmills a bit on this, but mostly because

"Tilted at windmills"? I've never heard that before..

Well, you're one of today's lucky 10,000, and get to learn about Don Quixote, who is a fictional knight who went jousting against dangerous and frightening windmills.

Anyway, phrase is supposed to mean attacking imagined enemies, though I'm using it a bit more loosely than that, to basically just say that I've cared and ranted about the topic a fair bit, generally without thought that it'll accomplish more, nor that the people hearing the rant will particularly care. But I'd continue anyway, and that continuing is "tilting at windmills".

We wouldn't say that because it wasn't just the bike that got into an accident.. You were riding on it, so I'd probably say "I was in a bike accident" or "I was in an accident while riding my bike" or something similar.

So when the person riding in the car came to a sudden stop, getting some minor amount of whiplash and/or just experiencing a bump, how are they any less involved than a person on a bike?

Yeah, people in cars are more protected. But it's also possible to significantly damage your bike while not doing particularly much damage to yourself. Or injure yourself without doing significant damage to a car.

Anyway, I'm guessing you get the point, even if you disagree with me, and certainly this is not the first time I've been told I'm overreacting on caring about language with transportation.

Though I suppose my original point is that the phrasing seems odd, regardless of how people actually understand it. Again, like driving a car and riding a bike, it's just... odd, since you're the motor driving the bike forward, and people can fairly easily fall asleep while piloting a car. But, sure people know that people aren't powering the wheel movement themselves, in a car.

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my advice is to never buy german cars. <flame on> :)

From my understanding as not-a-real-German living in Germany, is that you're supposed to get a BMW to go fast on the autobahn for the roughly 30km where traffic wouldn't stop you, and then a few years later you sell the vehicle so that it goes to a less-rich country where they can deal with the longer-term maintenance problems.

Problem solved!

(But, seriously, people should buy whatever appeals to them / fits needs, and pay attention to whatever the latest info from the consumer review places say. Not my silly and probably awful stereotype.)

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otherwise fantastic cars and I've never met anyone disappointed with a Beemer.

My wife and I are on our 4th. We've leased the last three, though, so we don't really worry about maintenance stuff.

...and I'm amused that the next post I see is basically owning the vehicle the way I talked about in my stereotype, and that that works well.

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Adept wrote to Roon <=-

From my understanding as not-a-real-German living in Germany, is that you're supposed to get a BMW to go fast on the autobahn for the roughly 30km where traffic wouldn't stop you, and then a few years later you
sell the vehicle so that it goes to a less-rich country where they can deal with the longer-term maintenance problems.

High-mileage late-model BMWs of late seem to fit that bill - old '80s
BMWs seem to run forever. I had a friend with one of the first 5-series
that bought a new engine at 300K miles, drove it for another 300K.

There was a 3-series model back in the 90s that mechanics loved - the
ones I talked to said it was the last easy one to work on that made
sense. A friend with that model was advised *never* to sell it.

Anyone I know who's bought a 2000 or later used BMW has had some pretty
serious bills to deal with.

I suppose I'll find out - bought a 2018 i3, but it's only got 14K miles
on it so it's relatively new.




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I suppose I'll find out - bought a 2018 i3, but it's only got 14K miles
on it so it's relatively new.

Good luck! And hopefully you don't need it.

There was a 3-series model back in the 90s that mechanics loved - the
ones I talked to said it was the last easy one to work on that made
sense. A friend with that model was advised *never* to sell it.

I wonder how well it'd run, in its 30s.

That said, kinda reminds me how bicycles are kind of nice to work on, mostly because you can get at everything, and nothing is particularly complex.

But, obviously, hard to go 60mph uphill with them.

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Re: Re: Totally
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Adept on Wed Aug 16 2023 08:38 am

High-mileage late-model BMWs of late seem to fit that bill - old '80s BMWs seem to run forever.

I'd seen a lot of 80s VWs on the road for a very long time too.

There was a 3-series model back in the 90s that mechanics loved - the ones I talked to said it was the last easy one to work on that made sense. A friend with that model was advised *never* to sell it.

Anyone I know who's bought a 2000 or later used BMW has had some pretty serious bills to deal with.

I liked BMWs in the 90s for how they looked - They had some realy sharp lines. Interesting to know they were also easy to work on back then too.

Nightfox
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Adept wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

That said, kinda reminds me how bicycles are kind of nice to work on, mostly because you can get at everything, and nothing is particularly complex.

But, obviously, hard to go 60mph uphill with them.

Old motorcycles, too! First thing you do is take the saddle off and put
it on the ground so you have somewhere to sit. If you get stuck, you can
take the engine out, put it in the trunk of your (or someone else's car)
and drive it to someone who can fix it.

I was lamenting to my son that my new car doesn't have voice commands
(that's part of the tech upgrade, which cost around $2K).

He responded with "Mine doesn't even have an aux-in plug!"

Mind you, his car was free, and I did give him my old cassette to headphone
ack
adapter.



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Nightfox wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I liked BMWs in the 90s for how they looked - They had some realy sharp lines. Interesting to know they were also easy to work on back then
too.

A bunch of years back, I carpooled with a car lover who had an older 5
series car with a car phone in the center console, with the curly cord
and light-up buttons. He lamented that he couldn't get service
for it. I told him the provisioning code he'd need to tell Verizon to
get it working - Verizon didn't market it but kept their analog network
running for OnStar.

A couple of weeks later he was excited to pick me up -- he wanted to
show off his working car phone!




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Re: Re: Totally
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Fri Aug 18 2023 07:17 am

A bunch of years back, I carpooled with a car lover who had an older 5 series car with a car phone in the center console, with the curly cord and light-up buttons. He lamented that he couldn't get service for it. I told him the provisioning code he'd need to tell Verizon to get it working - Verizon didn't market it but kept their analog network running for OnStar.

A couple of weeks later he was excited to pick me up -- he wanted to show off his working car phone!

That's cool. :)
I liked the 5 series back in the day too.. If I was driving back then and had the money, I'd have been really tempted to buy one.

Nightfox
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ADEPT (21:2/108) wrote to Roon <=-

my advice is to never buy german cars. <flame on> :)

From my understanding as not-a-real-German living in Germany, is that you're supposed to get a BMW to go fast on the autobahn for the roughly 30km where traffic wouldn't stop you, and then a few years later you
sell the vehicle so that it goes to a less-rich country where they can deal with the longer-term maintenance problems.

Even in America most people have the same view. Find a different car brand.





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Re: Re: Totally
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Fri Aug 18 2023 07:17 am

A couple of weeks later he was excited to pick me up -- he wanted to
show off his working car phone!

Dial into the BBS with it!

candycane

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Old motorcycles, too! First thing you do is take the saddle off and put
it on the ground so you have somewhere to sit. If you get stuck, you can take the engine out, put it in the trunk of your (or someone else's car) and drive it to someone who can fix it.

I have always wanted to get into motorcycles. I've never even ridden one but they look like a blast to work on. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so this feels up my alley. The thing that scares me, though, is other drivers on the road...I would never use a bike to commute, it would just be for joyrides for that reason.

When you say "old motorcycle" - which kind do you prefer? Is it more an issue of cost and abundance or are you into a brand or style?

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esc wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

When you say "old motorcycle" - which kind do you prefer? Is it more an issue of cost and abundance or are you into a brand or style?

Mine was a Yamaha Special II 400. spokes, laid-back handlebars, no
fiberglass body parts. I always liked the look of a cruiser bike like
that.

Cafe racers look great, but look like they'd kill my back after a while.




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I have always wanted to get into motorcycles. I've never even ridden one but they look like a blast to work on. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so this feels up my alley. The thing that scares me, though, is other drivers on the road...I would never use a bike to commute, it would just be for joyrides for that reason.

For me there's nothing quite like being out on the open road to clear the mind. I absolutely love it.

City commuting is definitely a risk though and I have a bunch of titanium in my leg to confirm that after being t-boned by a driver who ran a stop sign a few years ago.

I've only had naked uprights (right now I have a Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS) but would like to buy an older cafe racer or something one day to work on now that I have a garage. It simply wasn't an option when I lived in an apartment, but I moved into a house about a year ago.
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