Coffee Shop XXIX

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Good afternoon. It's 100 and mostly cloudy. It supposed to get to 105 (feels like 112). Had a bad night last night due to health problems. I slept in til 10 am. Not ten minutes after I got up my mother called wanting to go car hunting. So we checked out five lots in two towns and found two promising possibilities. A 2010 Chrysler Sebring 4-door (silver) and a 2010 Mercury Marquis (white). I just got back a little while ago and I'm hot and tired.I may get some work done on the layout later today then again maybe not.

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That's why the Marquis is a possibility. They already have one. It has a powerchair carrier on it and carries the weight quite well. The one we looked at already has a receiver hitch installed.
 


Really? I have owned various Mopar products for may years.

A RAM 1500 for 8 years. Two sets front brakes, two sets tires, one front end alignment, one fan belt. Two warranty issues, a water leak and one electrical one that the delaer handled. 115,000 miles when sold.

A Grand Caravan, a recall for rear climate control lines, fixed free, two sets front brakes, one set rear brakes, one EGR valve, two sets tires, one fan belt. Totalled last month with 107,000 miles or I'd still be driving it. One warranty issue, a rattling rear vent window, which they fixed.

No nickle & diming in my experience. The Mercedes Benz ownership has left some legacy there with quality and advanced features that are pretty positive. That said, I"ll bet your folks will like the Marquis for it's size. Ford quality has been great.

If it were me, I'd consider a new one if you're going to spend mid to high twenties. Bargaining power on new cars is very good right now, more so than on used cars. I e-mailed a bunch of dealers and asked for their best price on what I wanted. Sort of a reverse auction. I ended up getting a new Chrysler Town & Country for considerably less than dealer invoice.

Good luck. Car shopping can be such a pain!
 
Espeefan said:
That said, I"ll bet your folks will like the Marquis for it's size. Ford quality has been great.

If it were me, I'd consider a new one if you're going to spend mid to high twenties. Bargaining power on new cars is very good right now, more so than on used cars. I e-mailed a bunch of dealers and asked for their best price on what I wanted. Sort of a reverse auction. I ended up getting a new Chrysler Town & Country for considerably less than dealer invoice.
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My parents are shopping in the 16K or lower range. The dealer wants 17K for the Sebring. They can get the Marquis for about 12K and it has somewhat less on the odometer than the Chrysler.Another thing they have to consider is that they have two poodles which are all over the place. The Sebring has an angled dash console loaded with buttons that's just begging for one of the dogs to step on it. I think that will eventually take it out of the running. Another thing they have to look at is that I'll be required to drive the car from time to time. I have special foot issues that must be addressed. If my walking brace can't hit the gas pedal without clipping the brake pedal the car gets nixed. The Sebring and the Marquis both meet this requirement. So do the PT Cruiser, Avenger and Caliber. We looked at a lot of Nissan's, Mazda's and Toyota's and they all failed of this point. In fact it seemed to me that anybody wearing a wide shoe is going to have a problem in a Nissan at some point with nailing the gas and brake at the same time.
 
Good morning. It's 78° and partly cloudy. The high will be about 104° (feel like 114°) and it will be partly cloudy. No rain in sight.

Last night I started on installing handrails of the old Athearn SD45. They're the old steel wire ones so they won't break off if I look at them sideways or actually handle the loco. I got the right side and both ends done. The railing along the short hood is the only problem as the railings I'm using were made for an SD40-2 (longer short hood). I hope to get the railings on the left side done today.
 
He's too high on the Sebring. $12k on the Marquis is hard to beat! I was looking at Grand Caravans that were in the $17k price range and nicely equipped (2008-9 with 50k or less on the odo)

I had lots of Crown Vics and Marquis as rental cars over the years. It's a solid platform.
 
I noticed earlier that one of the numberboards on my SD45 was crooked. I straightened it and within a few minutes it went back to crooked. I straightened it a second time and again it was as if it was pulled by a rubber band. Third time I straightened it I put a drop of super glue on it. Little bandersnatch has stayed straight since that time.
 


After I installed the railings on the SD45 I started looking at the ends of the Atlas Trainmaster. No railings and I didn't have any that would fit it exactly. Well, at the Sundown shops they use what's on hand and what was on hand was a pair of Athearn end railings from an old GP7. Using a 1/32 drill bit I drilled out the mounting holes then set to work on installing the end railings. A shot of super glue to keep the stanchions in place and it was done after about two and a half hours. Now the Trainmaster has railings all the way around.

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bnsf971 said:
In one truck (Dakota), a new ecm, new transmission, new rear axle, new fuel injectors, new cam angle sensor, new fuel pump, new alternator, new radiator, new motor mounts, new air conditioner compressor, new water pump. In 5000 miles.
One car (Dodge Dynasty), new a/c compressor, new transmission, new battery, new starter, new distributor.
Next truck (Ram 2500 van), new fuel pump, new transmission, new radiator, new alternator, new ecm, new power window motor, new driver's seat.
Current truck (Ram 1500 pickup), new tires, new radiator, new fan clutch, new belts, new rear brakes. And I've owned it 4 months.
My Silverado needed a set of tires, a water pump and fan clutch in 50,000 miles.
My wife's G6 needed a headlight bulb in the last year/20,000 miles.
I think I've given Chrysler more than ample chance to prove itself in my house, and I'm less than impressed.
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Terry
Your experiences seem to be the norm for Chrysler from where I stand. I have worked at several dealerships over the last 30 years. Dodge/Lincoln-Merc/Honda store, 2 Ford dealerships, 2 GM dealerships, and now a Kia Dealership that used to be a Chrysler store, til the owner had all he could take from Chysler and dropped the franchise. We still have many customers who purchsed Chryslers from us and are loyal to us. OMG the money they spend on those beasts is aweful!:eek: Eventually, they all trade in and get a new car from us and they can't believe how much nicer the Kia's are, and how little they are spending on them! Of course, I shouldn't complain, cuz when those Chryslers implode (usually 80-100K) it helps my bottom line!!;)

Jeffrey, Go fo the Merc. It will still be running long after the engine for the Chrysler has been made into beer cans! :D

Personally myself, GM cars & Ford trucks have always served me well. I've got a 22 year young Ford truck that tows my trailers, an Impala that is my daily driver and the wife took over my Olds when her Suzuki died. The olds has 188K on the odometer and still has the original plugs and averages 25 mpg commuting! :D
 
The biggest seller on car lots here is trucks, small, large and gigantic. Mostly Ford, GM and Nissan. Trucks are pretty much the vehicle of choice in rural areas in the state and like it or not, Louisiana is mostly rural areas. Now, the debate on which car my parents will pick, I think it's the white Marquis as it's now sitting in their driveway I believe. I'll know for certain tomorrow when I can get more than a glimpse.

As for today's activities, I hope I don't have to install another set of handrails anytime soon.
 
Good morning folks.

I've had nothing but good luck with my last two Pontiac Grand Prixs. Unfortunately, the next purchase can't be a Pontiac, they nolonger exist. I also enjoy our Ford Explorer. It has an issue with the rear quarter rusting from a design flaw, but otherwise it's great.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! I love these mornings when it's a little chilly in the house. Of course in a month, the mornings become downright cold. May as well enjoy it now while I can.

We won big on Saturday while betting on the ponys. We got all of our money back! That's winning big for us. A great day spent outside while shouting at the horses to run a little faster.:D

I made a little progress on my background buildings. The mortar has been applied and the windows are in. I even cut and painted the foam core board to give the buildings a little more depth. With my wife out of town until Friday, I hope to make more progress tomorrow.

It's time to get to work, have a good day everyone.
 
Good morning. It's 81° and partly cloudy. The high today will be 105° (feel like 116°). The chance of rain late in the afternoon and into the evening is 30%.

Yesterday I did a lot of work on the end railings of the H24-66 Trainmaster. This was complicated by the fact that I didn't have the proper railings for the job and had to make do with what I did have. That was the front and rear railings (metal) from a thirty plus year old Athearn GP7. First off the holes were too small. They had to be drilled out. Fortunately I had the required 1/32 drill bit. It was a real trick to hold the loco in one hand and the Dremel in the other while I lined the bit up with the holes as precisely as I could. Easy you think? Imagine doing it without any depth perception. Not so easy. After all the holes were drilled it was time to push the ends of the stanchions into them. Anybody who's installed Athearn metal handrails knows how much fun that is. It took the better part of two hours but I got it done without gluing my fingers together with the super glue I used to set the stanchions and to glue the joint of each stanchion on the hand rail. The other end railing didn't take quite as long but was still an adventure in patience. Once you get over the fact that the railings are the wrong ones for the Trainmaster they look OK.

Today is laundry day so I'll be a little busy for a while.
 
Good morning folks

It was 72 F and there was a strange glowing thing in the eastern sky this morning. High today is supposed to be 81 F with more of that glowing thing in the sky.

As you can tell we had more rain and more rain over the weekend. I am not sure how more we got but it was enough to cause some flash flooding on the streets in my neighborhood. Once again there was a lot of lightning and thunder accompanying the storms. I have not had a chance to air out my tent from the camping trip a week ago with all this rain.

My daughter has another four days of volleyball practice before their first scrimmage of the year on Friday. She is pleased with how the team is coming together. She likes the fact that the two seniors are stressing that they are a team and that they are serious about winning.

I still have not found that elusive time to work on modeling. I am hopeful it will come soon.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
The car shopping is over! My parents grabbed the Mercury Marquis. With $2,000 slashed off the price it was something they couldn't pass up.
 
I have all of the siding stripped off of the front of my wood shop. I had put on 16 yrs ago the reverse board and batten siding that I had to stain or paint every 3 to 5 years. The same was true for the front of the house. The house now has vertical vinyl siding and have gotten a lot of great compliments on it but they also asked me when the rest of the front was going to be finished. Well two weeks ago I went and bought horizontal vinyl siding the same color that the vertical siding and have to finish installing it. Tearing off the old wood stuff was a real chore. I did not have a long of enough crow bar to reach the next stud the siding was nailed to so I pulled the first stud loose and broke the siding at the next one. I must to admit it was so much easier to handle once I got it off of the house than when I did the front porch. These siding sheets are 4' X 9' and 5/8ths" thick yellow pine. 16" X 9' pcs I can handle all day. My only dilemma is figuring out how to make it look good because the front wall goes down to the concrete and the side walls are 16" above that. Ahhhhhh another problem that will look great once I figure out how to solve it.
 


Well, I was the first to drive the new car on errands. It rides real nice and smooth. The errand was pretty simple. To the pharmacy to get four new 7/8" cane tips, Wal-mart for socks and briefs, Dominoes for a thin crust Extravaganza pizza. I'm very comfortable with the car. After all I'm going to be driving it quite a bit. My mother can't drive due to health problems so I'm stuck being the chauffeur. That's why it was so important I be able to get my wide boot to the gas pedal without hitting the brake. Seeing 140 mph on the speedometer (no KPH anywhere in sight) made me wonder if anybody had tried to see if it would do it. Just touching the gas pedal makes it take off like a scalded dog! The instrument panel display is laid out differently from their other Marquis. Speedometer on the left, tach (other car doesn't have one) on the right, gas, oil, temp and battery in the middle. No trip odometer.
 
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