oldshurst442

Both the Acura and Ford that I own, which are now 10 years old and older, and are from one of the OLDEST of the USB media systems...I dont seem to have ANY issues of the system being slow. The Acura also has as memory to store my favorite songs and that too aint slow... 9 dollars a month to listen to songs? OK...to create playlists... THAT is a cool feature. And I would agree with you that it may be worth it. But yeah...Thanks Spotify. But NO thanks!

I thought automakers SLASHING prices was a bad thing. A very VERY bad thing... https://money.cnn.com/2011/06/02/autos/american_cars_to-do_list/index.htm By Peter Valdes-Dapena June 6, 2011: 10:17 AM ET Don't reach for the rebate gun: Detroit automakers also need to make sure they're selling cars the right way. Over-reliance on rebates is bad for a couple of reasons. For one thing a $5,000 rebate costs at least $5,000. For another, rebates damage product image and resale value -- with rebates this big the car must be garbage, right? Fortunately, Ford, Chrysler and GM are all moving in the correct direction on this stuff. Fleet sales, as a proportion of overall sales, are shrinking and rebates are down, too. https://www.forbes.com/2008/07/17/gm-ford-chrysler-biz-man-cx_sk_0717automistakes_slide.html?sh=303e74d25df2 Jul 17, 2008,01:30pm EDT So...all of a sudden, Tesla does this rebate thing, a thing that is as old as car making itself,i s a good thing. But when GM, Ford and Chryco were doing it all through the 1980s 1990s and 2000s, we were crucifying them. It is strange how we will use the same course of action for different companies for relatively same circumstances and yet be OPPOSITE of our opinions of said course of action for said companies involved. Thankfully though, sometimes REALITY does sink in... Investors OF Telsa are rethinking their stance of Tesla profitability and are starting to second guess Tesla's direction and economic reality and are more in line to DEMAND the same phoquing accountablilty that they have demanded GM, Ford and Chrysler ALL those decades prior... Tesla seems to get the benefit of the doubt on thjis as we speak, but DOUBT is slowly kreeping in... https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/03/tesla-shares-drop-after-deliveries-report-raises-concern-of-price-cuts.html PUBLISHED MON, APR 3 2023 2:12 PM EDT UPDATED MON, APR 3 2023 8:53 PM EDT Shares of Tesla closed down 6% on Monday on growing concerns about the company’s automotive gross margins. Over the weekend, Tesla reported first-quarter deliveries of 422,875 electric vehicles and production of 440,808 cars. “We maintain that price cuts have and will undermine industry profitability (including Tesla’s),” wrote Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein, in a note to clients. Employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin Brandenburg work on the final inspection of the finished Model Y electric vehicles. The Tesla plant was opened and put into operation on March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleuil | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Tesla shares closed down 6% on Monday after the company’s quarterly deliveries report led some investors to worry that more price cuts will be needed to drive sales, eating into margins. Over the weekend, Tesla reported first-quarter deliveries of 422,875 electric vehicles and production of 440,808 cars. The record numbers represented 4% growth in deliveries from the prior period and followed repeated price cuts in the U.S., China and Europe. Some of the reductions in the U.S. were implemented in part to enable Tesla and its customers to take advantage of tax credits available under the Inflation Reduction Act. But one ongoing concern is that increased competition will force the automaker to keep lowering prices if it wants to attract buyers as new EVs continue to hit the market. “Many investors believe that Tesla’s recent price cuts reflect a structural cost advantage that will enable it to pressure rivals and capture outsize volume and dominate the EV market,” wrote Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein, in a note following the deliveries report. “We maintain that price cuts have and will undermine industry profitability (including Tesla’s), but that incumbents are deep pocketed and not likely to back down.” WATCH NOW VIDEO04:25 Tesla demand doesn’t feel ‘fantastic’ right now, says Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi Bernstein has a $150 price target on the stock, well below the current price of just over $193. Sacconaghi said, “The key question for investors is what might margins be, amid significant price cuts but improving commodity costs?” Tesla’s first-quarter deliveries fell shy of Wall Street expectations, judging by a consensus compiled by FactSet. However, the numbers were in line with numbers compiled by Tesla and sent by the company to some shareholders before the report was published. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting Tesla to report deliveries of around 432,000 vehicles for the quarter. Estimates ranged from 410,000 to 451,000. An independent researcher widely followed by Tesla fans and bulls, who uses the handle @TroyTeslike on Twitter, had been expecting deliveries of around 427,000. Tesla said in its email to shareholders that analysts were expecting deliveries of around 421,500 vehicles, based on a consensus of 25 analysts tracked by the company. For 2023, Tesla previously said it expects to produce 1.8 million cars and implied it intends deliveries around that amount. Company executives said they’re aiming for 50% annual growth on average in production volume and sales over a multiyear horizon. Achieving that level of growth will likely require further price cuts, some analysts said. According to Dan Levy of Barclays, who has a neutral rating on the stock and a $275 price target, the buildup of vehicle inventory is a continuing trend over the last three quarters. He wrote that “incremental price cuts likely needed,” especially as the company ramps up production at new factories in Austin, Texas, and outside of Berlin. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report WATCH: CNBCs full interview with Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi WATCH NOW VIDEO04:25 Tesla demand doesn’t feel ‘fantastic’ right now, says Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi Fast Money Halftime ReportWATCH LIVE UP NEXT | The Exchange 01:00 pm ET TV Fast Money Halftime ReportWATCH LIVE UP NEXT | The Exchange 01:00 pm ETListen

That is a usefull tool. Yes. I live in the Montreal area. I dont commute to the Montreal downtown core all that much anymore, but Montreal's traffic patterns are predictable. So with experience, I know how to avoid traffic problems instinctively. So for me, I dont really need it. Yes, it be a great tool to use, but I do get by without it. With all the ranting I done hatin' on TV screen GPS directions, THIS what you do right there is what I sometimes do as of late. I have my co-pilot, my wife or my kids, use their phone to navigate us through. I will have studied the streets before hand, but use the Google maps phone live direction that my co-pilots use, to be better prepared, as traffic and impatient drivers are more of a concern. To avoid any accidents. My co-pilot using the directions on the phone, leaves unnecessary unattention by me, to better control the driving aspect rather than the direction aspect. My wife also uses me or my kids as co-pilots when driving to unfamiliar places. Its a GREAT driving tool for safety. So I applaud THAT aspect of this kind of technology. The safety part. IF its done by a co-pilot and not the driver taking his eyes off the road...

I do know this. I am NEVER gonna be paying for streaming services. Like EVER. And I am certainly not paying for pay to play monthly car services for an automaker to 'unlock' heated seats or air con or ABS brakes. I have a USB key with a couple a hundred songs on it. If I want to listen to a song, I just plug in the USB key into whatever car I am driving, press the media button and I have FREE access to songs that I have PURCHASED over the DECADES. I have chosen my favorite "drive" songs on this USB key. Sure, these are songs that I have LITERALLY listened 1000 times to, but I am FAR removed from the demographic that the CURRENT rock stars and pop gods entertain to. So its OK. I do listen to the good ole radio. The FREE radio. Not the FM dial. But the good ole reliable AM dial listening, for free, to what people MY demographic listen to. No..it aint political or religious or social. Id rather drive my car off a cliff if I ever do that. Sports talk radio is what I do. And THAT is useless bad drama too sometimes... I pay for internet service so if I want to listen to music at home...I do youtube. I do youtube often as there is plenty of entertainment. I pay for sattelitle TV. But that may becoming to an end as in Canada, internet and TV service costs more than buying gold.... My home has slowly become an Apple home... Thanks in part to my kid's schooling. Its soooooo much easier to have phones and Macs and Macbook airs to connect to each other. I havent delved into the Apple world fully. I havent done Apple TV. I dont know if I ever will. Just to say...nickel and diming for every little aspect of my life is something I will never adhere to. I willgladly pay for services, but when certain services were free or one paid for in a bundle, like between a base stripped car versus a fully equipped one, I aint NEVER payin' a MONTHLY service for heated seats. Or for satellite radio. Or for Spotify or whatever. I LEGALLY bought and PAID for that Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet CD in the late '80s sometime. Ive listened to Wanted Dead or Alive a million times. Why the phoque am I gonna pay for a monthly service JUST to listen to it on Spotify or satellite radio? I OWN it already. I own LEGALLY, LOTS of 1970s/1980s/1990s songs... I took the time to BUY a USB key and I took the time to DOWNLOAD some of these SAME songs that I own LEGALLY, bought and paid for that play ENDLESSLY on Spotify...

I dont like the '77/'78 as much anymore either. 1. too much emphasis on the Smokey and the Bandit thing. Too many folk like the Trans Am JUST because of the movie and therefore are more like poseurs. The 2nd gen Trans Am is soooooo much more than THE Smokey and the Bandit car... But it is what it is... 2. After being a teenager in the mid 1980s, sometimes I look at that front clip and it just reminds me of these. And I really wished it didnt, but when Pontiac decided to use the 'Smokey and the Bandit' styling on these, to me, they really really cheapened the effect of THE Smokey and the Bandit car. And hence why I view the lovers of the Smokey and the Bandit FAKE Trans Am lovers... I really really want to distance myself from THAT. But I cant fully do that as I actually do like a Trans Am...

I HATE the fact that ALL today's cars have a TV screen to control HVAC and radio controls and all kinds of apps LIKE the car is some sort of phone... So...for me, this information is just to continue to hate as usual... Dont get me wrong, I think its a FANTASTIC thing to HAVE a TV screen to control certain ELEMENTS of the car's dynamics Such as in a sports car, the performance metrics and the like. But on certain OTHER things, such as the radio and HVAC controls, I DO prefer freakin' buttons... OK...although I OLD SCHOOL it by NEW SCHOOLING the GPS map thing,...I WILL google an unknown address AT HOME on my home computer or iPhone and LEARN the streets to get to my destination a la OLD SCHOOL and DRIVE WITHOUT the help of the car TV screen or car GPS...I understand and acknowledge the BENEFITS of REAL TIME directions especially on a TV screen IN your car using live google maps directions. I just PREFER to old school it by using new school google maps as I would have using a Rand Mcnally map back in the day. I print or write out the directions and when I drive...I LOOK to see for the streets I need to take by actually looking at the REAL damn STREETS in REALITY... yeah...I learn ALL the surrounding streets I NEED to look out for BEFORE I hit the street that I need to turn on to yada yada yada. THIS way, I LEARN MORE about my surrounds and therefore need to rely LESS on google maps... You COULD say Im a walking map of Montreal and its surroundings... The ONLY way for someone to achieve this is to actually look at a map and LEARN the damn streets and when driving the damn streets sink in to your brain... So...for me...ANY technology that helps us use LESS of our brain and get us to rely MORE on tech is a thing that I HATE...

My very first car that I ever fell in love with was a '76 Trans Am as a toddler. Cragar SS wheels. Rear tires were fat and the rear was raised as so many muscle cars were in the '70s. The rear window had that grille louver thing. Like the T/A down below. Except I remember the rears being fatter than what this T/A is sporting. Or maybe not. Almost 50 years has passed. Maybe my toddler memory of that car has been mythologized. I was savvy (My son and I saw just saw Pirates of the Caribbean yesterday for the hundreth time...hence the word choice ) to the model years so when I first saw the '79 Trans Am for the first time, I instantly fell in love with that model and replaced it as my favorite. I did see Smokey and the Bandit sometime in 1980 or '81, and I knew that it was a '77 or '78 . Strangely enough, I didnt like it. I mean, yeah I liked it, but the '79 remained by favorite followed by the '76. I later refined my taste to include the '70-'73. Today: I must say, the '76 has lost some of the luster I once had for it. The beak is not prominent enough for my liking. I dont like the '74 and '75 as much either for the same lack of a prominent beak plus the fact that I dont like the front bumper. And yeah, the '77 & '78 Trans Am is still a Trans Am that I would love to own as much as any other 2nd gen, it is not my favorite. Although I love the rear of the '70-73, my favorite rear goes to the '79-81. Second goes to the '76-78 rear. In 3rd place goes to the '70-'73. And lastly is to my least favorite 2nd gen Trans Ams of '74-'75. My favorite body STYLE is '75. What? Yeah...that is when the wrap around rear window debuted. '76 the T-Tops so in essence my favorite FAVORITE body style would BE from '76 on. In reality, Id proudly own and drive ANY 2nd gen Trans Am as is. If I was restomodding one though, I would keep the model year front and rear clips of the model that I would happen to own, BUT, I WOULD change the body style to the '75 or '76 one. T-Tops of course so '76. As dreams go... I dont know if I would do the awesome 17"/18"/19" retro Snowflakes or 17"/18"/19" Cragars...

Great news for Canada. Even better news for GM and equally better for EV adoption in the US. 500+ units delivered and on the way to 50 000 plus annually for this plant and BrightDrop. Ryder has an order for 4000 units through 2025. GM has secured 30 BrightDrop customers. Any orders for BrightDrop = better economies of scale for any Ultium Platform EV going forward which will benefit the US consumer and make GM more profit. Id say this is awesome news. Id say this is yet another milestone in an eventual surpassing of Tesla in EV sales. Id say this also puts any Chinese manufacturer at bay. VW and Hyundai/KIA as well.

Did you take a look at the vehicle that GM proposed what the Corvette SUV would be? One didnt have to look at the date to know it was not an authentic attempt at a SUV. That would be clue #1. Clue #2 would be the date. But you are right, Chevrolet will eventually take the fork in the road that leads to a Corvette SUV. Its just not at this time and especially not with that rendering.

Did you take a look at the day of which this story broke?

Yeah... I definetely see and can agree with your point of view. I am not against a new design language for either a Chrysler or Dodge. What I AM looking for though, is a mid to full sized sedan, from either Ford, GM or Mopar, with muscle car cues, not necessarily retro styled either, but definetely muscle car DNA styling. With a design language that speaks Ford or Chevy or Mopar. So yeah... I am on board with your opinion!!!

Let me give you more MEH then!!! LETS GO!!!

Thanx David for the info!!! And yes @SMK. The Charger will get the Hurricane I-6 in both guises. SO and HO. High output... The title mentions Challenger, but the article ONLY talks about the next Charger. But it does mention the EV version. So...the article is a little murky in the details, which doesnt include all that much information to begin with. But...its a good piece to get us excited. Especially what a twin turbo high output inline 6 will do to a possible new platform Charger/Challenger. And the naming possibilites of the SRT model. But as @Drew Dowdell stated: The old platform does need to go. But I do want the new platform to be the size, length and width, as the old platform. But...believe it or not, Im more excited with the EV version. Since I have made peace with the world around us for internal combustion engines going away, and more precisely, V8s going away, I cant wait to get my hands on the EV Charger/Challenger. I am not to sad for V8s going away either if I were to be honest with you. I havent owned a V8 car since the mid to late 1990s. And it was a tired old V8 at that. And it was the ONLY V8 I have EVER owned. Quebec gasoline prices and winters ALWAYS put a dent in V8 ownership. And...a lifetime of driving V6s and (ome or two) 4 cylinder cars, an electric powertrain, even in basic form is a step up. OK...on an equal plane for a BASIC EV powertrain a la Bolt versus a 6 cylinder. A basic EV powertrain for a Charger will be sufficient for me. Dual Motor for the AWD part. Because winter is still a thing in Quebec. Therefore, an EV Charger like the concept will probably BE my next sedan purchase. Unless General Motors does something interesting and muscle-y carish with a Chevy branded EV sedan of its own...

Ive had this thought. It has been bugging me for 2 days. I visited the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens many many times. In the 70s, in the 80s, in the 90s, in the 00's and finally in '10s. I have visited the Ancient Olympic site in Olympia once. In 2001. Ive been to Akrotiri in Santorini twice. Ive been to Crete but because of bad timing circumstance, I didnt visit Knossos. (This would be something that has also bugged me, but its not the subjest of why Im writing this) Ive seen lots of old stuff. Ill get back to this later. Ive swam in the Aegean and Ive swam in the Ionian. Ive swam directly in the Mediterranean. Some of those beaches were...lets just say...some men and some women were in their most natural of states. My mom when I was just a kid, my aunts or uncles and cousins and my wife and my kids, myself and other tourists from all over the phoquing world spanning 5 phoquing decades when we were observing history... When I was in school, in Greek school or in English/French school and I with my other classmates, my kids and their classmates, when learning abount Ancient Greek art and history and Roman... Not once, young or old, did I, we, ANYBODY, did we EVER think that we were indulging in porn. What is going ON in some people's heads today in America? We cant blame this kind of thing on the Puritans and their influence... It cant be political. Education about human history or even the looking at a naked human body from a phoquing statue that is not only art, but its of historical value. It aint even sexual in ANY way... I just dont buy that kind of stupidity on an 'ism' whether its a religious 'ism' or a political one. Something is going on and America has to figure it out because it dont look good for America's future. I must say... IM INSULTED by what happened in Florida with a couple of those parents!!! DISGUSTED!!! It not ONLY insults ME as a Greek...because my ancient peoples helped further human history along in advancing the arts, but also taught us to look at our human bodies and adore what the human body is and can be... But it also insults me as a HUMAN. On an intellectual level. A human body. THE naked human body is as natural as nature can be. There is simply NO phoquing excuse as to why somebody wants to limit exposure no matter what age, in learning about our naked bodies. There is NOTHING sexual about looking at a naked body. Forget about sex being natural as well... Its how we become...we. We need to indulge in sexual behaviour to continue on as a species... There are thousands of inappropriate sexual innuendos in American culture. The statue of David is where those morons drew the line? America better figure it out soon. It dont look too good...