Chrisgb

I lived a couple blocks from a Dykstra family in Maplewood MN (suburb of St Paul). They had three girls who would be 75 -80 years old now. Grandma? Aunts? Not a common surname.

Coolant intrusion was more prevalent on 2016-18 1.5L EB fours used in the Escape. I was on an Escape forum before and during my 2018 ownership, and there were few reports of problems with the 2.0 in that car. There was a modification done to the block deck between #2 & 3 cylinders. It seemed to affect the Cleveland blocks more that than the Valencia blocks ; My 2018 had a Changan sticker on the block! I had no problems with mine, but I sold it to Caravan and ordered my 2021 Ranger, which I've had a seatbelt & headrest (supercabs only) recall and a trans. TSB for rough shifting done and so far satisfied. I am hoping that the glacially slow rollout of the 2024 Ranger is to ensure that the trucks are as defect free as can be accomplished coming off the line.

He might find that too Boring

Like many video-game-racers-come-to-life, many will eventually wind up in police auctions, or trailered to various concours'. Mine will have to sit outside, as my Celestiq needs to be parked next to the charger and the Talbot Lago, well...

In my county, people regularly get stopped for "No Tail Lamps Displayed" that are driving with only the DRLs at night. Often results in other offenses like suspended or revoked licenses, OWI, etc. And there is the opposite; people running their high beams 100% of the time. "I am a much safer driver than you. I know you can't see me, so I have my hi beams on in order to stand out from the commoners like you."

I attended a gymkhana put on by Oldsmobile and A.J. Foyt back when the Cutlass International Series model was introduced. Very enlightening about the limits of traction and how you could induce drifting in a FWD car. Unforgettable day flogging $19,000 cars! They passed out some swag at the end including T-shirts; I still have mine.

Exclusive drone shot of the prototype T3 testing over the Product Development Center in Dearborn, MI. It should be noted that the Tesla Cybertruck does not have a porch.

I questioned Tesla's materials science back when it was first shown to the public, with its "Armor Glass." The only thing bullet proof is Elon's hubris.

All but two of my 13 Ford products have been reliable. My 1982 Escort needed two head gaskets in 139,000 miles and was needing a third, but I junked it instead in 1997. I bought a used 1984 Tempo ~1992 with only 58,000 miles, that was a money pit. New water pump, steering rack,(both remanufacture's) fuel filter, all in less than a year. I sold it to my wife's coworker for their daughter's college beater, she blew it up two weeks later. As disappointing as those were, every other Ford has been replacement items only. We still have our 2009 Mercury Mariner with 140,000mi, and our 2021 Ranger has been trouble free so far at 58,000 miles; I did have a TSB done for a shifting update. For any make or model, the key is keep up with maintenance, and if buying used, you're usually better off buying a known one-owner regardless of age; my Tempo notwithstanding. The jury is still out regarding the twin scroll turbo Ecoboost fours IMO, but so far so good in my Ranger.

The Floorcare plant was built on an 86-acre site in Cottage Grove, MN, that was to eventually include a 400,000 sq ft Chest Freezer plant and a warehouse/rail/distribution facility. The FloorCare plant opened to great fanfare in 1977 and closed December 1984. We had no national seniority, and there was no other development of the land at that time. Today, the facility is owned by Up North Plastics, which has expanded twice, and there is a GM Distribution Center and rail yard adjacent, but I'm not sure if that is on the original Whirlpool property. I sold insurance for a short time before getting into car sales and later truck driving. I am now comfortably retired with my wife of 45 years (in a row) and my hobbies include hijacking threads.

"While They Last" Is a classic tag to increase sales of discontinued products of any kind.

I suppose APA is useful if you typically find yourself having to parallel park a couple-few times a week. On the other hand, you probably are pretty good at it if that's the case. I read somewhere, probably on BOF, that Ford Connect relays the frequency and in some cases duration that an option is used. They found through this data mining that few people were using the Homelink garage door feature, continuing to use the clip-on box that came with the garage door opener. They concluded that money could be saved by deleting the feature on some models, or moving it up into a premium package.

You spelled "Teammates" wrong. I was once a dedicated, valued teammate at Whirlpool Corp for 17 years; until they closed our state of the art, seven year old factory and moved out of state.

Potentially a good future Mecum or Barrett-Jackson auction piece especially if it's stored: "... This was the very last Viper sold in the world!!..."

I've seen the turn signals placed at bumper level on Hyundai models. There is a maximum height in the US of 54 inches from the road surface for primary brake and turn signals (not incl CHMSLs), but I am not sure if there is a minimum height. I think the theory is that it helps prevent tailgating.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/03/youtube-ordered-to-reveal-the-identities-of-video-viewers?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b2c_pro_oth_20240401_aprilweeklynewsletter_paid_v1_1_171171097931&utm_content=innocent_Youtube_viewer

This development is much more useful than some of the arcane patents they come up with.

Good eye! the drivers side door looks to be a two tone, while the passenger side is plain.

Over the years, Kia has had some uh, innovative side profiles, the K4 continues the tradition.That D-pillar treatment becomes the focal point for me. That burr on the rear doors either need to get ground off or continue to the roof line. If this is a top trim level, the door card screams fleet car. They did a nice job on the EV6, my neighbor has one and it looks better in reality than in photos. Maybe the K4 will be the same. Except for the police cruiser door cards.

The article mentions that a Huston dealer has a $199/mo deal on a Nautilus- that's what the 24mo lease was on my '97 Escort LX 5spd.

I think that the bet is a decent profit (10%?) could be realized on a $25K vehicle, especially if that figure is after federal and state rebates. An electric drivetrain will be simpler and less costly, and battery cost is supposed to be coming down. Which brings up another question I've had for some time. Why are they building 5-800hp. BEVS with 300-ish mile range? Why not 200-250hp with 400-500mi range, which is where cross country travel would be viable and there would be less of an impact of towing or cold weather. I would think the weight and cost of such a vehicle would be less as well.

Ranger Tremor SuperCab...

Not good. Folks that bought a new vehicle in 2019-21 and paid a "Market Adjusted Price" or hundreds/thousands in dealer installed accessories, and rolled a leftover loan balance into an 84 month loan are stuck with the vehicle for a few more years. Or they will need significant cash to get out of the deal. This is also affecting their ability to get home improvement loans or refinance balloon loans. Meanwhile, inventories of many vehicles are increasing, and rebates & low interest financing are coming back, further reducing used car loan values, thus keeping more folks out of the new market, which results in bigger incentives to move the iron, etc until somewhere a balance is finally struck and new & used ATPs stabilize.

As an unabashed Ranger owner/fanboy, it's good to see the '24s, finally!