Fifty150

In today's world, pickup trucks have turned into "Mall Cruisers". Half of the trucks sold never haul, tow, or go off road......sort of like all the SUV type vehicles that never leave the pavement, or for that matter, even go into the snow. People are buying trucks to line the bed with speakers, and show off shiny rims. It used to be that you could buy the "basic" trim level for basic work. No luxury. It simply runs. A truck that you could work with, and not worry about messing up the leather seats, or getting mud on the floor mats. It's the luxury trim trucks that are driving up prices, to a point that now you can't even buy a stick shift, and soon, even the stripped down work package trucks will no longer be available. Weird how some trucks were only sold as 4 door, crew cab, short bed "cars". Honda Ridgeline. Chevy Avalanche. Ford Sport Trac.

LNG is interesting also. In my area, I don't see LNG. We have CNG. Even though both use "natural gas", the technologies are different. Kind of like Beta Max vs VHS. Both of those will not survive side by side. Although both may be left behind when something better comes along.......same way the marketplace abandoned 12" laser disc was DVD took over the market. Almost like me, still owning 8 tracks, when even CD sales have all but disappeared in favor of downloading MP3.

You would think that on an issue like that, where it is apparent that the malfunction was not caused by the customer, any reputable dealer would assist with deferring your payment and/or provide a loaner.

Exactly. The amount of pollution to the environment from producing and delivering those kilowatts of electricity to the end user's electric car, is greater than the tail pipe emission that the car is saving. We need to produce and deliver electricity in a cleaner fashion, before we operate cars with it. Not to mention the environmental footprint of producing and disposing of the battery cells for those cars. I'm not a scientist. I don't have exact figures. But if one Tesla has a battery cell which is equal to about 12 of my regular car batteries, then 1 Tesla, in 8 or 10 years, will add just as much battery waste product to a landfill as my lifetime of driving. If I only drove Tesla, then I would pollute the environment with 10 times as many batteries in the landfill. And what about the pollution from producing all of those batteries in a Tesla? Here in The U.S.A., the oil companies have lobbyist who convince our politicians to enact legislation in their favor. That is why we do not have alternative fuel options available to the public. Oil companies do not want to lose money. Alternative fuel stations could be everywhere, if crooked politicians stop taking dirty money from lobbying groups. CNG technology is already developed and available, is cleaner, has an equivalent amount of energy per gallon as gasoline so you don't lose performance or mileage, is a lot less expensive, and the infrastructure is already there to deliver the gas via gas lines from your utility. Just like with solar panels, the US government could offer subsidies, tax incentives, and tax rebates to convert every car on the road to CNG., and for homeowners to install their own fueling apparatus. The technology is already available with conversion kits. Legislation could be passed to force auto manufacturers to sell every car as CNG, and require car owners to convert existing cars within a reasonable time limit (perhaps 10 years), with an exemption for cars that are pre-OBDII. If in 10 years, your 96 Saturn is still running, you'll either convert it or get rid of it. Since natural gas comes from gas lines which are already in place, you won't have to deliver it in tankers. We won't buy gas from Saudi Arabia. No more "cost per barrel" impacting the economy, or Saudi Arabia flooding the market at below market rates. The retail equipment and safety standards are already approved. CNG could be sold by almost anyone willing to buy a compressor and they won't need a huge underground tank. More availability means increased competition in the marketplace, which translates to lower retail pricing. Convenience stores, grocery stores, auto parts stores, department stores........Amazon.com could sell it to you, and you could fuel up at Whole Foods with your Prime Membership. Automakers can complain about increased production cost, and fear that the clean cars won't sell. But those are baseless arguments. U.S. citizens get a tax rebate for buying electric cars and hybrid cars, in order to offset the additional expense. Tesla buyers get a $7,500 federal tax credit, in California there is a $2,500 tax rebate, and in New Jersey they don't pay sales tax. You don't see Toyota complaining about how the Prius is hurting their company's profitability. Chevy is selling a lot of Volts. And even though the Nissan Leaf is junk, people are still buying it. CNG is also a finite resource. But it is a huge step to getting away from petroleum products. With a step in that direction, perhaps we can then look towards developing a synthetic fuel. If you allow your imagination to run wild, why can't a synthetic fuel be developed? Why must we use a natural resource?

The dream is still there. Imagine if "wireless power" were indeed possible. Why you could put a phone, right on top of a charging pad, and charge it without plugging your phone in. https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-wireless-phone-chargers/ Now if we could only charge our electric car batteries in a wireless fashion....l.maybe even as we're driving, by driving over a freeway which also acts as a charger for all the cars driving on it. No way that could ever happen. Just leave it to the Chinese to develop a solar panel to harness electricity directly on the road surface.

Nuclear energy may provide an alternative to fossil fuel. Battery technology needs improvement. The biggest setback for electric cars is range and recharge time. A long range trip is nearly impossible if you drive an electric vehicle for only a couple of hours, only to require 6, 8, or more hours of charging, for another couple of hours of driving. And in an urban environment, apartment dwellers don't have charge options. I park on the street. No way for me to setup a charge station in my garage - because I don't have a garage. The idea is there. The science isn't. A solar panel does not convert enough electricity needed to charge a car efficiently. Electricity can be the future of automobiles, if we could develop the technology for quick battery change or charge. Hydrogen fuel cell, LPG and CNG systems have not caught on due to lack of refueling options. You run out of fuel, too bad. No way to find more. Nobody carries it. I am in a liberal metropolitan area, with environmental tree huggers, and there is only 1 retail E-85 vendor. Biodiesel is sold by a hippy cooperative that you have to pay to join, and pay monthly dues, to access the pumps. The local utility vendor has 1 CNG pump. No way to refuel hydrogen or LPG.

Evens hybrids, like a Prius, can be equipped with a small diesel to use biodiesel. A lot of options. Special Interest lobbying is holding back advancement. Unless funding is allocated for further research and development, we will not be able to take the next step into a more efficient or cleaner future. Or someone in another country will develop the technology. China is already testing the use of solar panels on freeways. That being said, I have a gas guzzling pickup truck.

E85 could turn into a farm subsidy. The government could pay the farmers to grow sugar cane or corn. The government is already subsidizing the manufacturing and distribution of E85, so that retailers can sell it for about $1 less. All cars can run on E85 and there are conversion kits on the market. If manufacturers want to, every car could be sold as flex fuel. by way of government dollars, every gas station could have an E85 pump. Every car could be sold with a diesel engine and all pumps could dispense biodiesel. The politics and money are what is keeping us from getting away from gasoline and diesel. No. I don't think E85 And biodiesel are the solution. It is symbolic of how technology and science is restrained by politics. Big oil does not want anything to take our dollars from buying gas and diesel. So they will pay off politicians at every level to protect their revenue stream. Government could pay for a lot with our tax dollars. The money is there. But it becomes a matter of prioritizing politics. And I don't want to point out where they could cut spending to increase spending in other areas. Because we all have different ideology.

The mounting hardware will be the same, but in a different location. It won't be ideal, but you can still make it work. All depends on how much of the van you are willing to take apart and swap. Perhaps removing all the seats, the flooring, and the anchor points. Don't know that I would want to do so much work, but it can be done.

The City & County of San Francisco also has a fleet of Transit Connects. Just not for police use. Dept of Health, Public Works, Park & Rec Rangers, Child Protective Services, and most city agencies. The cops have a few new Transit 150 vans for personnel transport; when you need to deploy dozens of cops to a protest or riot. SFPD is still using the Econolines for prisoner transport, and that won't change any time soon, since they are still driving Crown Victorias and F-Series pickup trucks from 1997. Down in the basement of The Hall of Justice, I saw a couple of cars leftover from the 70's, that still had the light blue paint job.

I typed "Embarcadero Freeway used to be". Weird how the algorithm works to correct what you typed. There used to be a very short freeway, with 2 exits, and both exits went to Chinatown. Local politicians thought it wise to spend billions of dollars to tear down a freeway, which cost billions of dollars to build. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there is a lot of corruption and graft behind those kinds of actions. About as crooked and corrupt as The City of Mountain View passing a law to ban businesses from opening a company cafeteria to give their employees free lunch. https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php Mountain View’s unusual rule for Facebook: No free food Wendy Lee and Roland Li July 23, 2018 Updated: July 23, 2018 5 a.m. 1 of 10 Steve Rasmussen (right), owner of Milk Pail Market, greets a customer. Rasmussen’s shop is near Facebook’s future office. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2 of 10 WeWork is managing Facebook’s facility and is considering a public food hall on the first floor. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 3 of 10 A shopper walks past the front entrance of Milk Pail Market. The market’s owner hopes that a Mountain View rule forbidding free corporate cafes will benefit local businesses. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 4 of 10 Mountain View, after seeing the effect of corporate cafes on businesses in the North Bayshore area around Googleplex, is moving to restrict free meals for employees. 10 of 10 Zendesk does not offer catered or cooked meals, encouraging its San Francisco employees to go out to nearby restaurants instead. Photo: Nathaniel Y. Downes / The Chronicle 2015 When Facebook moves into its new offices in Mountain View this fall, a signature Silicon Valley perk will be missing — there won’t be a corporate cafeteria with free food for about 2,000 employees. In an unusual move, the city barred companies from fully subsidizing meals inside the offices, which are part of the Village at San Antonio Center project, in an effort to promote nearby retailers. The project-specific requirement passed in 2014, attracting little notice because the offices were years away from opening. It came in response to local restaurants that said Google, the city’s biggest employer, was hurting their businesses by providing free meals, according to John McAlister, a Mountain View councilman.

Without getting political, my recollection is that E85 fuel was something that the prior administration pushed for. The President (prior to the current administration) was focused on reduced emissions pollution. The biggest hurdle to cleaner alternative fuel was distribution. During those 8 years, vehicle manufacturers were given incentives to produce flex fuel and alternative fuel vehicles. Now we have a few fueling stations selling natural gas, propane, bio-diesel, and E85. From personal experience, the Econoline I use at work is regularly fueled with E85. The mileage is horrible, but since it is subsidized to be sold at a lower cost, the cost per mile is almost the same. When the smog test required a tailpipe test, the printout showed that the tailpipe had zero or close to zero in every category tested. The first time that happened, the smog tech was baffled that a V8 with over 100,000 could have near zero emissions, and he threatened to report us to the government for tampering with the smog control equipment. With bio-diesel in our fleet of old medium duty trucks, we noticed that there wasn't any more black smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Some guys said that the throttle became more responsive. Yes. It works. Tailpipe emissions are reduced. But at what cost? The environmental footprint of producing E85, Bio-Diesel, and Hybrid & Electrical vehicles is huge! Electric cars get electricity from the power grid. How is that power produced, and distributed to the final end user? Isn't most power produced with fossil fuel, and what about the environmental impact of the kilowatts consumed by your plug-in electric car? What is the efficiency in cost per mile - when your utility bill goes up as you save at the pump? Electric vehicle batteries are equal to how many passenger car batteries? A Prius electric car battery can last 10 years or 300,000 miles. The electric car battery is the equivalent of 10 or 12 car batteries, give or take. What is the environmental impact of producing and disposing of those electric car batteries? E-85 and Biodiesel are both financially subsidized so that the fuels can be sold at a competitive price. Nobody would pay the true cost of these fuels. It cost more to make a fuel substitute, than what the actually fuel is worth. The production and transportation of these fuels damages the environment more than the tailpipe emission of using gas & diesel; especially when you factor in the genetically modified corn and how that impacts the world food supply. It's kind of like recycling. You get a penny for a soda can. But what does it cost to send out a diesel truck to pick up the recycling, transport it to a plant, and then burn fossil fuel to power the machinery which melts down the metal for reuse? We may as throw six pack rings into the ocean to kill the seagulls.

I am always upset when people like immigrants are taken advantage of.....and always by members of their own community. Latino flea market car dealer at the cheating Mexicans. Russian car broker dealing from a cafe. Chinese restaurant paying cash, at below minimum wage with no overtime. Check cashing stores in inner city neighborhoods. CarMax is different. If you are savvy enough to buy a car online, you should know about finance options.

Jackson Square. Next to Chinatown. Where the old Embarcadero Free at used to be. Right across the street from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I know a lot of guys who believe in Lucas Oil. I don't know if it is scientifically proven. With no science what-so-ever, I remember when guys put nail polish remover into their gas tanks too. http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/products-for-better-gas-mileage/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a5959/gas-saving-gadgets-hall-of-shame/ Then you have people who make youtube videos, and people watch those videos. here is a guy mixing a a 50/50 batch of nail polish remover and Marvel Mystery Oil.

High 5. Are you in Norte Califas? The Central Valley? Or The SouthLAnd?

I am in "big city" traffic. The kind of traffic that does not move. Even with a green light, the intersection is already gridlocked. Or the light turns green, and only 3 cars make it across, which means that I only get to advance 3 car lengths. It could take 5 or 10 minutes to go a few blocks. It takes about an hour to get across town, and only travel 7 miles. The 3 - 5 miles of freeway that I drive on never gets to freeway speed. Most of The U.S.A. never sees this kind of traffic, unless they are watching a movie. On top of that, "most expensive fuel in the nation" California gas is a strange blend of "better for the environment exhaust", and "good for the environment ethanol". https://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/gasoline/gasoline.htm The California reformulated gasoline program set stringent standards for California gasoline that produced cost-effective emission reductions from gasoline-powered vehicles. The CaRFG program was implemented in three phases. Phase 1, which was implemented in 1991, eliminated lead from gasoline and set regulations for deposit control additives and reid vapor pressure (RVP). Phase 2 CaRFG (CaRFG2) set specifications for sulfur, aromatics, oxygen, benzene, T50, T90, Olefins, and RVP and established a Predictive Model. Phase 3 CaRFG (CaRFG3) eliminated methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether from California gasoline.

Report this to your dealership immediately. Since there actually was a recall, it could work in your favor. Dealers can perform an "after warranty adjustment", or avail themselves to some sort of other program to help you. Start taking notes, which you may need later if it goes that far, on the date & time of your failure, who you speak to at the dealership level and on which date and time, ask for everything in writing (in case you need it for evidence later on), and do not take "no" for an answer. If someone says no, ask to escalate the issue higher up on the food chain. Start inquiring with class action, consumer advocate attorneys. Clearly, this issue is not something that the vehicle buyer is at fault. How many other cars, with similar sliding doors and latches, do not experience this type of failure? Since there is already a recall, speak to the NHTSA about your particular situation. http://www2.dealersedge.com/ME2/Sites/dirmod.asp?sid=0EA07745106C4076847B5C35C1AAEF2B&amp;nm=<BR>Advanced+Search&amp;type=Publishing&amp;mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&amp;mid=B502EFAB5C2C4AB5BDB4C5E749BA3B2A&amp;tier=4&amp;id=F0B82731FB5347B8876E5C0411C3D4B9&amp;SiteId=8FE37FB59D10488FB91B2D037740333E Issue Date: Warranty Administrator for Ford Dealers Oct 2008, Posted On: 9/30/2008 Ford changes the rules and the goals of providing after-warranty policy adjustments In corporate-speak alphabet soup: AWA (After Warranty Assistance) gives way to CLP (Customer Loyalty Program) and LTC (Long Term Value). Beginning this month, Ford is implementing a new customer satisfaction tool they are calling Customer Loyalty Program (CLP) that will replace the longstanding After-Warranty Assistance (AWA) program. More than just a new name, Ford is also launching a new tool to assist you in making AWA, or now CLP, decisions. A customer scoring system they call Long Term Value (LTV), gives dealership service managers an easy-to-read number that is predictive of a customer's value to both the dealership and to Ford. Getting back to the true intention of the AWA, Ford is looking for improved owner loyalty. Dollars spent today on CLP applications should help create or maintain a customer for tomorrow. The new system helps to make sure that our decisions are based on potential customer loyalty out into the future. The customer's LTV score ranges from 0 - 99, and is based on customers who: Purchased or leased multiple new Ford vehicles and products during the past 10 years. Financed their purchase with Ford Motor Credit during the past 10 years. Will likely purchase or lease more new Ford vehicles in the future. Will likely finance a new Ford vehicle with Ford Motor Credit in the future. The score can be found on the customer's CuDL screen. The new CLP process does extend the limits on certain decisions and makes them uniform for all dealers to the following limits: 6 years / 100,000 miles (Ford / Mercury) 7 years / 100,000 miles (Lincoln) 6 years / 150,000 miles (Ford Diesel Engines, Ford GT, LCF & F650/750) With the new process comes a new program code, P18, that must be used for all claims in which a CLP decision was made. While Ford provides generous dealer authorization limits, they also provide a dealer-specific CLP budget. You can find your dealership's budget on FMCDealer.com on the same screen where you look up your 126 and GWMS reports. Based on the dealerships I have reviewed, your budget for the rest of the year is likely to be slightly above what you have spent on AWA for the past six months. First the stick - now the carrot Here is where the program radically differs from the AWA of the past. If your dealership does not spend its budget, the dealership will be credited one-third of the unused budget. It appears that the average dealership will be budgeted about $5,000. While some may be tempted to spend nothing and get $1,666.50 back at the end of the year, they will only hurt themselves. Not only will they leave a number of upset customers in their wake, but they would get almost nothing for the next budget period, since budgets are based on how much you spend. On the other hand, some may be tempted to think, "why not spend every dime of your allocation and then some?" The problem there is the way the program works you can only do two incremental claims beyond your budget and they will only pay 33 percent of the claim total in those cases. This would be in line with the typical goodwill practice where Ford paid a third, the customer paid a third and the dealer paid a third. An additional stipulation is that all CLP claims require a Customer Notification Form. Ford has been looking for way to combat after-the-fact AWA applications for a couple of years now, and they want to be sure that customers are well aware that they are benefiting from a goodwill decision. Also note- you only have 30 days to submit a CLP claim rather than the past submission limit of 90 or 120 days depending on your authorization level.

It sounds like the second dealer is doing a better job, and that is where I would bring my vehicle back to for further service. And since they know of your PCM issue, they could probably do a better job with keeping an eye on it for you. Rewind this back. I've never heard of something like that. A car dealer took the OEM battery out, and replaced it with another battery, prior to selling you the car. Why? Was this something that they did prior to selling the car to you? That sounds fraudulent. There is absolutely no reason to replace an OEM anything, with something else, then sell the car. Are they taking your Motorcraft battery to resell as new to another customer? Are they selling you a new car, with a low quality battery? If you are buying a new car, you have every expectation to receive a new car as it was built at the factory. What other parts are they stripping from their new cars? Check your tires. Are those OEM tires, or $40 tires from China?

The City of Oakland, on the other side of The Bridge & Tunnel, uses Transit Connects.

Where I live, those are police motorcycles.

Ah yes. Back in the days of Ford Vans that nobody bought. Your brother may have the last of the Freestar vans, AND the only one sold in his zip code.

A "dealership" at the flea market does the exact same thing. It is legal. They are a licensed car dealer. Buyer beware is the rule. But in some cases, the buyer has no credit history and no options. Nothing new, since unscrupulous used car dealers have operated for decades with used car lots and fancy TV commercials. Even worse, the buyer knows absolutely nothing about how cars are bought & sold, how the value of a car is determined, or they wouldn't consider buying a car at a flea market. Typical customer is a young person who does not have anyone to guide him/her. Or a recent immigrant. They sell the car based on color, rims, sound system, and wax. Then they charge you whatever they can get out of you each month in payments, and finance you into 72 or 84 payments. So some kid or immigrant ends up paying $500 a month, for a total of $42,000, for a 10 year old Chevy Malibu or Hyundai Sonata with over 100,000 miles. They do the math to show the sale at whatever amount it takes to finance at 20%, so that the number fits into the "negotiated" payment. In some ethnic immigrant communities, there are "car brokers" who operate without inventory or a lot. You meet with them, and they determine what you are willing to pay monthly on finance or lease, get the particulars on make & model of you choice, then source the car and deliver it to you. The buyer is a recent immigrant. The sale is handled much in the same fashion with outrageous finance, and the vehicle being sold for way over Blue Book value. With the brokers, the more common scam is the lease. Once they have determined that you want a black BMW, 3 Series, or some other "luxury " brand, with nice rims, they will source a salvage title, or 10 year old used car with 100,000 miles that another used car dealer couldn't get rid of. Then they lease it to the customer for for $500 or $600 monthly, Imagine buying at auction, a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C 240 Sedan 4D, with a Kelley Blue Book of $1,086 - $1,777, and cleaning it up real good with a new coat of wax. Then some guy from The Ukraine or Korea is willing to give you $100 a week to drive a shiny Mercedes. In a year, you generate $5,200. But he doesn't even get to buy the car from you. He leases it from you, and whenever he doesn't want that car anymore, you get to sell it off at auction or to another used car lot, and probably recover the $1,000 you paid for it. Not bad for no lot, no inventory, and doing business with a cell phone, meeting your customers at a coffee shop. These guys only need a continuous supply of new immigrants to make a good living. Is this greed? Well, they are not in the non-profit sector. Taking advantage of poor people, with no sophistication in finance, and even less knowledge of things like Kelley Blue Book.....not exactly nice, but not illegal.

When it comes time to lay down and stretch out, The current generation Long Wheel Base may offer you more room.

Ford wants $3 to install a little green tree that smells funny.