Who wants a cars podcast that's not about classics?

 It's been almost ten years to the day (10 years and 5 days, to be precise) since I've posted here.  The reason I started this blog was simple, really:  I'm a car enthusiast, but not in the sense of loving the classics.  I love modern cars - shopping for them, comparing specs, and finding out more about new technology being employed inside the vehicle.  My experience as a driver goes back to 1996, and I always loved the idea of newer cars, not older cars.  That might be heresy to some, but where some car enthusiasts are interested in post-war vehicles taking us through the 60s, my passion is more vehicles from about 2000-present.  

There's a good reason for my focus on more modern vehicles:  around 2006 I decided to take my first plunge into German vehicle ownership, and once I did, I became obsessed with the modern luxury vehicles of the day that I could afford, starting with my tragically totaled 2000 E430, purchased in June 2006 with 77K miles.

My interest in newer cars is focused not only on drivability and what has changed as certain models of luxury and near-luxury vehicles evolve, but also the technology behind them.  This spans from lighting (in ten years, suddenly we're now all buying cars with LEDs - awesome change!) or engines (in ten years, suddenly we're now settling for 2-liter 4-cylinder turbos as the standard option in even an E-class - a not so awesome change, in my opinion).  

In the ten years since I've posted, however, there's also been a seismic shift away from blogging entirely.  Who wants to read words on a screen when one can throw on bluetooth-paired headphones and listen to Rogan or some other podcast?  And so, I am wondering if it makes sense, since this is still such a passion of mine years later, to buy a microphone and some editing software, and start posting a podcast instead of posting here. 

I have three children, and last year we traded our 2009 Honda Odyssey minivan (purchased spring 2011 with only 13K miles) for a brand new 2021 Toyota Sienna XLE.  We had a third child three years ago (actually, as of the last published post in this blog, we hadn't yet had our second child), and my wife really loves the space and practicality of a bigger car with sliding doors, so we re-upped on suburban minivan life for likely another ten years.  The reason I say all this, is to highlight that were I to publish a podcast, it's likely not something I could handle doing weekly with kids, job, and other demands.

If anyone is out there still reading this, I'm wondering how you feel about a podcast dealing with cars - but not race cars (though maybe we'll touch on Formula 1), and not classics (I know nothing about classic cars).  The podcast would deal more with modern cars, SUVs, electric vehicles, and yes, even minivans.  

What is attracting buyers these days?  What trends, positive and negative, do we see in the market?  What cool features, that used to be the stuff of science fiction, are now coming to fruition?  If one thing is for sure, a podcast like this would be just as much a technology podcast - automotive technology development inside and outside the vehicle hasn't slowed down.

Comments are welcome!

(Not such an) Insurance Nightmare: the sequel!

Click here to read the original manuscript of the blockbuster movie, "Insurance nightmare". 

OK, it was never a movie, but damn well coulda been.

I'm now at a point where I once again require Commerce Insurance's services.  This time, for my 2000 Lexus ES 300. 

Someone bumped me in a parking lot (didn't witness it, don't have the person's license plate # or make/model) and hard enough to bend my 12 year old plastic bumper on one side.  The tail light is also broken, and the body shop (will get to that later) says that there's likely hidden damage underneath.

The one hitch here is that we had a prior collision, when someone rear-ended the car, which only caused a few paint scrapes.  We didn't bother getting it fixed, so they paid us out a few hundred bucks and we pocketed the money. 

Fast forward to this new incident, and now that damage has occurred in the same place, they're not going to just apply our deductible but also the amount that was paid out previously.

At first I resisted this, but it does make some sort of sense:  they're not replacing a bumper that is assumed by insurance standards to be in reasonably good condition (even considering the age of the car); they're replacing one they know was damaged and I never had fixed.  Even if that damage was a little paint vs. needing a brand new bumper.  My point was, the bumper would have to be repainted regardless, and while I realize you paid me out for that already, this new damage requires a whole new bumper, which the prior claim did not - sort of a double whammy.

And so the stress begins.  The claims rep I'm dealing with sounds like she's just out of high school. Everything requires she speak to her supervisor.  When it comes to anything outside her wheelhouse, I get the stonewall  - she won't even acknowledge I'm asking a simple yes or no question; she'd prefer to avoid it entirely.

For example: I dealt with a real piece of work from Hallmark Adjustment during the original Insurance Nightmare.  He was rude to the owners of both of the shops I used, and refused to attribute my steering rack being bent to the accident, even though one of the points of impact was my turned-all-the-way-to-the-right-to-avoid-being-severely-injured driver's side wheel.  The logic is simple; with enough reverb on that point of impact, the rack will bend, as it's the last in a chain reaction of suspension components absorbing damage.  Everything goes back to the steering rack.  My alignment specialist shop-owner agreed, but this a**hole from Hallmark did not.

To summarize, I paid out of pocket for the damage and was then reimbursed later by Commerce.  About $1000 of my own money until Commerce reimbursed me.

I've indicated several times to Commerce in follow ups that I refuse to deal with Hallmark Adjustment, and this adjustor in particular.  When the original damage happened to the Lexus in 2010, I noticed they used an in-house appraiser.

This time, even after telling my claims rep that I did not want Hallmark Adjustment involved, she still used them.  Here's about how the convo went:

Me: I don't want Hallmark Adjustment used. I had a nightmare with them a few years ago.
Her: Well, all they do is take a photo and send us some info...
Me:  No, I understand that.  It was the follow-up visits that were a problem, not the initial visit.
Her:  Do you want the location of the nearest drive-in appraisal service? The ones around you are pretty much all Hallmark...
Me:  I'd like to avoid using Hallmark.  Any other way we can do this? Any other companies?
Her: Do you want us to send out a field appraiser?
Me: That'd be great!  Thanks for understanding. Not trying to be difficult.

..in all seriousness, I have kept a good-natured and professional tone throughout.

What do I see when I log into Commerce's web site to check status of the claim the next day?  There it is, Hallmark Adjustment.  The guy who drove out to my work place to appraise the car never said he worked for Hallmark; I just assumed he was employed by Commerce, as was the last field appraiser we dealt with.

I didn't get angry with the claims rep who was probably either not listening or didn't care about my issues. I emailed asking for an explanation and pretty much got stonewalling:  "We use Hallmark adjustment frequently" was the response to, "doesn't Commerce use other appraisal companies?"

I told her I didn't want to go into too much detail about a three year old case, but that I would always remember how Hallmark not only burned me on that claim and I needed Commerce to come to the rescue, but that I also complained to Hallmark to no avail about that particular adjustor.  She still has yet to answer the simple question, after a third time being asked, "which other appraisal companies does Commerce use?"  It's not as if it's a trade secret; it's a simple question.  Once I get that answer I am going to post it everywhere so people don't have to dig.

This is the last thing I wanted to think about going into having my car fixed, but it is what it is, I suppose.  The body shop - different place than the one I used three years ago, but located in the same area - has a great owner who used to work with some Mercedes specialists back in the day.  He said there's likely hidden damage under the bumper and there would be follow up appraisals, but is confident that I'll be treated fairly by the folks he usually works with. 

Time will tell.

Why you should always question Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports is a great magazine for the average homeowner / consumer.  It provides topical details about everything ranging from laptop computers to snowblowers and even services provided by companies. 

That's all well and good, but when the breadth of the mission the magazine has taken on is so great, the depth of information is sometimes lacking.

I can't reproduce the information here because I'm not an online subscriber to Consumer Reports (CR), but there was an article in the most recent issue (early October) dealing with car waxes and paint care.  Obviously, I jumped right into that article - it's no secret I've been fortunate enough to have been given a free education on these matters from the kind folks at Waxstation.com.

Essentially, CR screwed the pooch with their review of car waxes.  It's not because Mothers didn't come in first in every category; I swear.  They included cleaner waxes lumped in to the same review as top coats; they included liquid and synthetic waxes with carnauba and paste waxes.  I thought to myself - who would do such a thing?  Read my letter below to find out why this is a bad idea.

I wrote the letter to the editor below about a week ago, but haven't heard back and don't expect to.  The car wax review is just another reason I dislike CR magazine for important consumer decision-making.  When you want to buy a TV, for example, go to an electronics review site and use Google to find it; when you want to upgrade your audio system, go to Crutchfield.com.  The extra effort of typing a few keys in is worthwhile.

Also consider price point.  Consumer Reports does take into account price, so they might compare a Craftsman snow thrower to an Ariens and lead people to believe the Craftsman is just as good, because the price is lower but the quality isn't a good deal lower than an Ariens.  I love Craftsman and have a Craftsman mower that has served me well in my two years as a home owner.  But if you can afford an Ariens snow thrower with no problem, why would you not get the one with the better reputation and better build? 

CR should be renamed "Consumer Guidance", meaning, a guide for people who really have no clue what to buy when they want something new (a TV, a toaster, a blender), and who want a magazine to tell them what brand that new thing should be.

Here's the letter:

In regard to the recent Consumer Reports magazine issue dealing with car care, tires, and batteries, I found it curious that "Cleaner waxes" from several different companies, including Mothers & Meguiar's, were included in the test.

 

Cleaner wax is intended as a "step 1" for anyone waxing a vehicle - it's meant to strip the vehicle's paint of old wax as well as contaminants and grime, and thus is a preparation for a top coat, or even a step 2 before the top coat, such as Mothers Sealer & Glaze.  What CR magazine seemed to be trying to compare are "top coats", or what most people think of traditionally as "car wax".  Cleaner waxes should not have been included as standalone products to compare against top coats; in this way, I feel CR magazine misrepresented certain products in this comparison.  The only comparison where it would make sense to include cleaner waxes are product *lines* that are intended to be applied in steps, such as Mothers Step1-3 and the equivalent Meguiar's products.

 

Additionally, no mention of paint color was made as far as I remember.  Mothers and its resellers, particularly those that focus on the antique car market, will tell you that you need to choose the right product for the type of paint, age of the car, and color.  I saw that synthetic liquid waxes were lumped in with carnauba paste waxes - again, these comparisons lose their meaning when it appears some random polishes are chosen off of store shelves with no regard to intended use.

Car care advice from some guy at AAA

Boston.com features car care advice from John Paul at AAA New England. It's nice that Boston.com features solid car care tips, but I've learned first hand over the years to question some of the modern logic out there pertaining to cars.  So has John, but we still differ in some respects.

Here, Boston.com created a "best of" slideshow and I just couldn't help picking some of his points apart.  Many of the slides feature good, common sense measures to save on gas, and simply be a safer driver; others I disagree with wholeheartedly.

For example:

"Putting the wipers up and away from the windshield certainly makes it easier to clean the windshield if it snows. It also eliminates the chance of the wipers freezing to the windshield. My concern is that by doing this you are putting stress on the spring that holds the wiper arm against the windshield. I don't do it on my car."

I don't understand this tip as I've never had springs on my wipers break due to heavy snow or ice.  Most cars have the springs tucked away well enough and flush with the windshield such that it would be damn near impossible for the springs to break - in fact, the concern here is ice and snow bending the wiper backward until it snaps.

My problem with this tip is it doesn't account for probabilities and cost.  Would you rather *definitely* replace your wiper blades after a few snow storms, as leaving them on the windshield will cause the rubber to become nearly unusable if you don't store them up & away from the glass during storms? Or would you rather take the small chance that a blizzard of immense proportion will come and bury your car in so much snow that the strong metal springs holding your wipers against the glass will snap off? 

One last point on this one - spring for the orange Rain-X ice-melt stuff, not the crappy gas station "ice melt".  Shell tends to carry the Rain-X stuff but most auto supply stores will also carry it.  It's by far the best brand of ice and snow melt washer fluid and I keep it in year-round on both vehicles.

"In my opinion, warming up a car wastes gas and adds to air pollution. Certainly there are times when it makes sense to let your car warm up. One example may be that the windshield is frozen and warming up the car is necessary to scrape all the ice off the windows."

I love the 'air pollution' argument. We all contribute to air pollution when we drive. What's another minute on idle? If you're penny pinching to save on gas to that degree, re-evaluate your commute.

What John Paul doesn't say is that it's plain dangerous to drive in a freezing cold car for any length of time. People who don't allow the defrosters to kick in and drive with windows fogged up until 10 or 15 minutes into their commute lower their own visibility on the roads. I've nearly been killed by some of these bozos.

He also talks about headlights and making sure they retain brightness and don't wait for them to burn out before replacing them; check them out & ensure they're not weak.  This is a fantastic tip but he doesn't take it far enough - how about some recommendations?  For me, there's no better place to go than the source - a guy who consults for the US DOT - Daniel Stern.  

Further into the slideshow, Mr. Paul talks about how it's perfectly fine to switch between synthetic and regular oil, but that synthetic oil is more likely to find leaks.  I don't understand this advice.  Who would recommend such an approach?  No mechanic I've ever spoken to.  While it may not kill the engine to do this, why would you switch between regular & synthetic oil?  Stick with one and your engine will love you back for a longer period of time.


I hate to pick on this guy and his readers, but there's also his mailbag.  Are there really people who still take the car to a $tealership to fix a couple scratches?

Observe here & below:

Q. I was cleaning sap off my car and used “Goof Off” but also used a straight-edge razor to get some of the stubborn sap off. When I did this I nicked and scratched the paint on the car. It is a 2009 Toyota Camry. I spoke to my dealer and they said to bring it in but I am afraid of what it will cost. I’m on a budget and every penny counts. Can I touch it up myself?

Really?  I'm amazed at how few people know how to use Google for simple car care tips.  You might even run into this blog if you search for the right thing...

What happened to the C-Max?

UPDATE Feb 20 2012:  Read about the official cancellation of the 7-passenger MPV C-Max by clicking here.

Yes, old news...still no less disappointing. The comments say it all, really.  Mazda must be happy to hear it, while consumers aren't.  And yet, it makes sense - even our family opted for the larger Honda Odyssey and were willing to splurge for the frills that it offered, beyond the space.  Ah, well.  Guess it will take even higher fuel prices and a worse economy to push people into smaller cars.

Original post follows:

More appropriately:  what happened to the late 2011 release of the gas-powered 2012 Ford C-Max with a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine?

I've written a couple of times about the Ford C-Max, sold in Europe for a few years now, and similar to the Mazda5 in that it is a 5-door "MPV" (small minivan).

Until recently, Ford has a minisite dedicated to the C-Max on its website, touting the benefits of its advanced technology and, important for American drivers, sliding doors that mimic those of a full size minivan.

Now, for some reason, we only see the Energi and Hybrid models on the site under Future Vehicles - without sliding doors - not the gas-powered 2.0L 4-cylinder which was supposed to launch in late 2011 as a 2012 model.  What happened?

I've written some of the PR folks and product managers at Ford with no luck.  They'd been responsive up until the late spring, when they told me that we can expect to see the C-Max in showrooms late this year, but that the Energi & Hybrid models weren't going to be out until next year.  When I was shopping for a minivan and considering the Mazda5 and C-Max as well, it was nice to know there'd be a tech-loaded MPV by the end of the year to look forward to shopping against other offerings.  I've already bought my car, but many of the hits on this site are a result of searching for information on the C-Max and, in particular, the Mazda5 vs. the C-Max, so this is likely confusing and disappointing more folks than just me.

I'd invite others to voice their displeasure to Ford by clicking here and contacting Ford's North American PR team as well as their product managers about this.  You'll have to register for the site to contact them but it's not just for media.

Even Ford's own website showing the Energi & Hybrid models, which say "Available Fall 2012" under them, show 5-door vehicles without sliding doors, which contradicts with Ford's own minisite it had up this spring for the 2.0L 4-cylinder model. 

Hopefully someone else has better luck than me, or at the very least Ford hears the displeasure of its future C-Max customers and responds with some more info.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

Recently, we traded in our 2002 Sable and upgraded to a family hauler, a 2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L.  The more I drive this hulking beast of a minivan, the more I grow to love it.

My new commuter car is my wife's old car, a 2000 Lexus ES300 Platinum Edition.  It's essentially a Toyota Camry chassis with some niceties added.  But as the vehicle is nearing its twelfth birthday, it's been (knock on wood) very reliable, without much in the way of problems (knock harder on wood).  We even bought it with nearly 90,000 miles on it and it just passed the 120,000 mile mark.  In that time, if I remember correctly, we've done the following work that goes above & beyond normal wear items:

• replaced A/C clutch - not even sure this was necessary. I complained about a noise outside the car, a hissing/whining mechanical sound when the air conditioning was turned on, and my mechanic replaced the clutch inside the A/C unit.
• dash lights - some of the climate control lights are out.  the procedure to take them out isn't as easy as with a Mercedes-Benz, or at least MB's of the past, where one only needed mechanical keys to extract the entire climate control module out of the dash and then could get at the lights easily with simple tools. I haven't done this work, but I figure at twelve years old this is technically a "wear item".
• Throttle body cleaning - my car would start but not idle, and fool that I am, I tried to crank it with my other car's battery.  Turned out the throttle body was severely gunked up and is now fine...cost less than $200 overall even with an oil change added in when the car went to my mechanic.
• Mirror hazing - as typical with BMWs and Mercedes and just about any car that has heated exterior mirrors, my Lexus has that "mirror haze" where the seal has been broken and the driver's side mirror is turning brown on the bottom.  It hasn't infected the entire mirror...it would be nice to get replaced so the heated element works, but that comes at a price of over $400 at the Lexus dealer for the part alone, and no one makes an aftermarket glass that will fit that & allow me to keep use of my heated mirror.  So, I'll find a specialty glass shop & probably pay $100 for them to replace just the glass.

That's about it.  Not bad for 3.5 years & 30K miles of ownership at the higher end of the car's life.

I should add that while a typical front wheel drive Japanese sedan, it does come with heated seats, HomeLink (now that I have a garage, this is nice), side airbags - though not side *head* airbags, power seats, a 6-cd changer, and a tape deck - which I like so I can use my iPod via a tape adapter. Even the armrest storage & glove box seem to be done just right.  And Lexus as a company loves that half-woodgrain steering wheel & nice wood trim, as do I.

The subject heading of this post has more to do with the fact that I recently took out the baby seat recently, and gave it a complete Mothers pampering.  Washed & waxed on the outside, and on the inside I cleaned & conditioned the leather & vinyl, vacuumed and cleaned the upholstery, even used glass cleaner on the windows.  The car felt & looked nearly new on the inside (ok, at the very least, very nicely treated used).

There's nothing like Mothers detailing products & nothing like giving an old car with a couple of rips in the leather and marks on the dash a thorough detailing.  It's easy when using a car like that as a daily commuter to forget how nice the car truly is, but once it's detailed nicely, you remember that a nicely appointed luxury car, no matter how old, is a joy to drive.

2009 Odyssey EX-L: First week of ownership

After one week of ownership of our 2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L, I have to give it two thumbs up.

I took the minivan to work the other day as it was my responsibility to pick up my son after work.  While the vehicle is bigger than we need at present, even with just one more kid, I can see it being very useful for things like trips to the beach where it'll be easier to clean sand, etc. off the car's floor, and it'll be easier to take all the "stuff" with us that we want to take.  My wife is fair skinned as is my son, so for my son we take a little tent to the beach and we need the umbrella, blankets, chairs, etc.  Fitting this all in the trunk of a Mercury Sable was not pleasant last year.

In terms of performance, the 244 horsepower i-VTEC engine with Variable Cylinder Management is smooth and powerful.  During acceleration and at highway speeds, it doesn't lag a bit or leave you wanting for more.  It is a minivan after all, so it deserves a lot of power to move its heft around.

The braking performance isn't blowing me away, but it's good enough for our driving styles.  When in a minivan, as nice as the engine may be, it's still not something you want to drive in an aggressive manner.  I've heard complaints about the braking performance but in normal city driving and when not tailgating, it's fine.  Even if you do have to punch the brakes at a low speed, the brakes are very responsive.  The problem comes when you're heading off a highway ramp at, say, 60mph, and see traffic up ahead where the driver needs to suddenly slow down.  It's taking some getting used to, to figure out how much pressure to apply, so the braking in these cases isn't always smooth.  Once I get used to it, I'm sure it'll be fine.

We have only driven it a couple hundred miles, and have yet to make use of all the nice rear cargo space.  I plan on folding the third row of seats entirely flat for the summer, as there are only three of us, and it's easy enough to fold one of them back up for an additional passenger should we have one.

Typical of Honda, the EX-L trim is highly refined.  I do miss the extra creature comforts of the Mercedes E-classes I've owned, and even the driving dynamics and smoother transmission of the VW Passat wagon.  But as this is a minivan, the auto climate control for the rear, the extra vents and lights, the leather seating & refined interior are all nicer than one would normally expect in a commonly seen family hauler.

While Honda has a solid reputation for reliability, my only concern going forward are transmission issues that Honda has managed to keep a lid on in recent years.  Join up on a couple of Honda forums focusing on Accord or Odyssey, and you'll know what I mean.  This is reason enough, in my opinion, to purchase an aftermarket extended warranty from a reputable company next year, before the factory warranty runs out.