Should You Buy New Or Used?

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
06/25/2015 at 07:15 • Filed to: None

I am sometimes asked non-legal questions like, “What various considerations should I be cognizant of when deciding whether to buy a car new or used?” When that happens, I respond by making a podcast which, these days, also includes a video component for those who like to watch.

I also have a new book I just finished writing. Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition will be published early next year. Until then, we are cutting down trees, making paper, mixing ink and so on. These books are complicated!

This also partially explains why I was interviewing Richard Petty a few weeks ago, and why !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! when that guy made the silly comments about the winged cars.

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I mean, it’s one thing to be wrong. But to be wrong on one of the things I’ve been working on for the last few years?

So, to bide your time until the book comes out, you can listen to, or watch, episode #37 of Lehto’s Law . Wherein I discuss the pros and cons of buying new versus buying used.

The old fashioned audio podcast:

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And the newfangled video podcast:

Stay tuned. I will post updates on the progress of Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird (and other books). And, as always, I will listen for questions which need to be answered.

Follow me on Twitter: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Hear my podcast on iTunes: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Steve Lehto is a writer and attorney and has been practicing law for 23 years, almost exclusively in consumer protection and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we’re not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn’t act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

DISCUSSION (100)

Peptide > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 07:55

I know exactly what you mean about “taking it personally” when someone makes gratuitous assertions in domains that you have expertise in. I used to write (and now sell) automotive ECU software and some of the “why don’t automakers just XXXX”, where XXXX is actually non-trivial, drives me mildly nuts. I think your response was on-point and the tenor was appropriate.

I can recognize the subject matter expertise in your “wing-car” articles, and look forward to reading your book.

jjhats > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:07

so I tried countless times to reply to your article about how the wing was smartly designed but never made it through because of kinja. what I wanted to say was your article was completely void of the fact that the trunk conveniently opens just under the spoiler. im hoping you address this in your book as many sources claim that’s the only reason its the height that is and seems like a very big coincidence in my opinion. furthermore, if true it reaffirms how dumb the spoiler team was when they could just have made a wing that mounted on the trunk rather than block over the trunk.

SteveLehto > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 08:12

I purposely avoided that in the article because 1) it wasn’t relevant to the other guy’s article and 2) it’s not the reason the wing was placed there.

The topic came up in the comments and, as I expected, a whole bunch of readers went nuts arguing for it. Which is what I was trying to avoid (since it was off-topic).

I address it in the book but don’t dwell on it too much. After all, how much space do you devote to debunking a myth?

jjhats > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:30

ok but you do realize if the wing was any smaller the trunk wouldn’t open? like how can you ignore such a huge impact on the design;. this isn’t a purpose built race car, they had to sell these and thus the trunk had to open, like its a major point and could very well be the secret behind its design

literacola > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:32

Can you really put a price on knowing that no one else has farted in that driver seat?

LongbowMkII > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 08:32

Well, as in all coincidental cases...

Aliens. It was Aliens.

450X_FTW > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 08:38

The trunk is not where you want to push down, it’s not stable and moves around too much. Makes far more sense to push down on the quarter panels directly in line with the wheels rather than the trunk lid latch

jalop1991 > Peptide
06/25/2015 at 08:39

You can’t take it personally. That’s silly. You know for a fact that you have scads of knowledge and experience that the layperson doesn’t, so you simply listen politely. If the other party demands an answer, at best you say something like “it’s complicated” and drop it.

But knowing that the other guy is spouting out in ignorance of the facts? Why would you take that personally? You should EXPECT that he doesn’t know what you know.

SteveLehto > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 08:41

You’re joking, right?

Zoom > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:44

Click bait with blatant self promotion?

Me likey.

Good luck with the publication Steve.

Any chance of a hard cover I can put on my coffee table?

webmonkees > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:44

Kinja'd!!!

New. Secure movie deal, with additional stipulation of a hero car from the production.

Hoy! Lip buddy pawnch! > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:45

Great article and podcast. Simple and concise. I’m going to spew my views to buyers and use your podcast and your credentials to strengthen it. This would save a lot of time though.

Also 4 of my vehicles still have a cassette player (2 with CD and cassette) so no worries; I understand and it doesn’t bother me at all.

SteveLehto > Zoom
06/25/2015 at 08:46

Click bait would have been “The One PODCAST which will save your child’s life this summer!”

But yes, blatant self-promotion. If not me, who will do it otherwise?

This book will be hardcover. My Turbine Car book is available in hardcover too, as will be my book on Preston Tucker (also coming out next year).

Peptide > jalop1991
06/25/2015 at 08:47

And that is pretty much what I do. Make no mistake...it’s not that they don’t know what they don’t know, it’s the “you guys are not doing XXXX because you’re evil” aspect that gets to me - once in a while. This, and all of the “ simple matter of software ” fallacies, are just a little to much sometimes.

SteveLehto > Hoy! Lip buddy pawnch!
06/25/2015 at 08:47

Hey, I still have mix tapes I pull out from time to time.

Thanks!

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Peptide
06/25/2015 at 08:48

As an engineer this usually bothers me too when people make comments like that. If something makes sense, the engineers probably thought of it but for some reason couldn't implement it (whether that be a decision out of their control or that it's a much more complicated task than it would seem). I always try to explain that when people say things like that...one the other hand I have met some engineers who make me doubt things too

jjhats > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:49

im 100% serious. all the math and graphs and charts you showed are fantastic on paper....but when it comes down to it the final design must clear the trunk so the trunk is governing the design not the math. the wing is absurd it does not need to be that big it looks ridiculous people want to use their trunk.

Paullubbock > literacola
06/25/2015 at 08:50

Car seat covers are cheap.

satalac > literacola
06/25/2015 at 08:53

You’re going to be upset when you find out that people that move the car off the line into transport get great joy in ripping a big beefy one into the seat of a newly made car.

Renault R8 Gordini from 1966 > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:54

Neused

imgonnamakeyouloveme > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:55

Any chance we can get a text version of the podcast? I prefer to read rather than listen to or watch podcasts.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 08:57

I also read that the efficacy of the ‘duckbill’ spoiler for NASCAR use was proved on a Monday after the race. (wish I could remember which team and which car). The forward thinking team member placed a 2x4 under the trunklid of the car (race cars had trunks back then) and wired the trunk down with bailing wire changing the rear profile of the car and ‘stacking up’ more air behind the rear window.

The car ran the same track it had the day before 5-6 mph faster than race day. Some teams consulted with the missile division. Other teams used lumber.

SteveLehto > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 08:59

I interviewed the guy who designed it. He said they first thought to put it up high for clean air. Wind tunnel tests proved it worked. If they had wanted to put it lower (for whatever reason) they would have mounted it to the decklid like all the other typical spoilers of the time.

They did not care about looks at all. And no, what you are repeating is a joke told by Ford guys. “Chrysler engineers were so dumb, they mounted the wing up there to clear the trunk, when they could have mounted it on the trunk like we did.” (Go look at the contemporary Ford cars).

And no, there was no rule that the race car trunks had to open. And yes, they could have braced them differently if need be (the race wings WERE braced differently than the street wings but I’m sure you knew that, right?)

And what was told to you by a drunk at a car show does not trump what was told to me by the guy who designed it. Arguments and jokes are fine but I write history. And history is often based upon interviewing witnesses and participants to historical events.

You can believe anything you want to believe of course. This is America after all.

I still think you are joking though.

SteveLehto > imgonnamakeyouloveme
06/25/2015 at 09:00

I don’t use a script so the only way to do that would be for me to transcribe it.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 09:01

Why would a team limit their precious aero to the 100% operational limit of the trunk opening? If this was a homologation special, why couldn’t the trunk be limited to 3/4 of its fully opened position? These cars were sold so they could be allowed to race. Many of them sat on dealer lots for months or years because there just wasn’t consumer demand for them. Passenger comfort and utility didn’t rank high on the white-paper.

SteveLehto > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius
06/25/2015 at 09:01

Never heard that one. I know there was a lot of experimentation and much of it was crude at first. They used angle iron, duct tape and cardboard to mock up nose cones and wings at Chelsea, before they did them in fiberglass for wind tunnel testing.

LongbowMkII > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 09:10

because racing focused designs would never odd quirks like non functional trunks. or you know... engine covers that don’t close.

Kinja'd!!!

punkgoose17 > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:15

My car still has a cassette player. I recently bought some cassettes from the Goodwill to listen to in the car.

Tommy861 > Peptide
06/25/2015 at 09:16

I totally understand where you guys are coming from with this as well. I’ve worked in fields where “everyone’s an expert” outside of the people who actually work there, and so I’ve defended fields where I didn’t work for this reason that I know that theres folks like you who do think of these things.

To add some lightheartedness, theres a guy I work with who is a self proclaimed car movie buff. When I pointed out that the first Fast and the Furious movie was essentially a ripoff of Point Break except with cars (which is kind of common knowledge) he got so completely bent out of shape about it (and how “wrong I was”) it was unbelievable. Talk about taking it personally, you’d think I just told him I fucked his mom.

Ommas > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:22

Tape deck in my 2002 Honda Accord (approaching 200k miles, bought used in summer of 2002 at a dealer auction thanks to a friend). I just stopped using it with a 3.5mm tape cassette adapter for my iPhone just this year. Now I have a bluetooth with a FM modulator...but I only gave up on the cassette adapter because our 2007 Pilot doesn’t have a tape deck or an aux input. Without bluetooth it would be in audio input no man’s land.

I am Jack's complete lack of compassion > literacola
06/25/2015 at 09:22

I fart in every car I test drive. HA!

imgonnamakeyouloveme > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:24

That’s cool. Just thought that I’d ask.

Prophet of hoon > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:26

two things, possibly three.

Cognizant? folks who do Mopars are a bit more salt-of-the-earth and might think you’re putting on airs with that 10 dollar word.

So let me get this straight, someone said something imprecise about a Mopar; and you wrote and published book about it? While it is funny (full disclaimer, I think hemi ‘cudas were poor handling, slugs) to watch the thin-skinned nature of Mopar lovers - don’t you think it’s just a little nuts to go to all this trouble over a troll like me? (I wasn’t the original troll, I’m just a follow up troll).

With that said, it’s possible that I’m a little envious of you getting to interview the King.

SteveLehto > Prophet of hoon
06/25/2015 at 09:30

I wrote an ARTICLE about the guy’s statement. And his statement was an article so I was merely fighting fire with fire.

I began writing the book a year ago (but have been researching these cars for years). The timing just worked out (that he published his article right when I was wrapping up my manuscript).

But hey - piss me off enough and maybe I will write a book about it!

And I did talk to Richard Petty about the wing too. Since he didn’t design it, his opinion is not controlling here. (But he said it was up high to be in clean air.)

Justin Hughes > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:40

“The Top 5 Reasons Why You Want A Car No One Else Has Farted In Podcast And You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!!!”

Now THAT would be clickbait!

Justin Hughes > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:42

You could use YouTube’s automatic transcription captions. Look how well they worked for Jalopnik ’s ND Miata videos!

OK, so they come out reading like Orlove’s abstract Twitter feed. Nobody’s perfect.

EvilSuperMonkey > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
06/25/2015 at 09:44

I once worked worth an engineer that had a master’s in chem eng. I had to explain to him how chemical equations work and why injecting pressurized air into a very hot enclosed vessel filled with combustible gases was a bad idea. I sometimes worry too.

sgtyukon > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 09:46

Are the modern research tools for used car pricing as accurate as those for new cars? Since condition matters on a used car and not on a new one, I imagine they’re not. If that’s the case and if you choose to do research before buying a car, would you not have a better chance of paying too much for a used car than for a new one?

Also, count me among the people who still have a cassette deck in car, a 15-year old Chrysler T&C. I’ve never used it because it also has a CD changer. It took far longer for me to make a mix tape than it does to make mix CD’s. If you listen to tapes they always play the same songs in the same order. CD’s are more durable than tapes. A CD never ruins the player when it unravels. With CD’s, I could drive from coast to coast and never hear the same song twice. I also have a truck with a more modern head unit. It’ll play DVD’s, flash drives and SD cards. So, I don’t listen to CD’s in the truck at all. I have 3,000 songs on an SD card a little bigger than a postage stamp. I just put that on shuffle and let it run.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > EvilSuperMonkey
06/25/2015 at 09:54

Yup...I was a test engineer for some years and you could always tell when something was designed by a guy who had never held a wrench before. Sure, it works on your computer model, but it’s impractical and a PITA for the mechanics trying to install it for real

SteveLehto > sgtyukon
06/25/2015 at 09:59

That is a good point: There is much more variety in the pricing of used cars. That is why Blue Book etc are useful but must be taken with a grain of salt. They are averages of prices and there is no bright line on what the various conditions are.

So, if you really put the time in and poke around, you can probably get a good deal on a used car - assuming price is one of your primary factors. New cars are an apples-to-apples comparison. Used cars, not so much.

Yeah, I’m not saying I love the cassette player (I used the CD player way more). I’m just saying I still have one.

Prophet of hoon > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 10:06

lol - then I shouldn’t tell you my theory - that those radar arches were actually the first in the secret government experiment which led to crop-dusting of America by commercial jets? (as seen by the suspicious contrails)

BigBlock440 > sgtyukon
06/25/2015 at 10:07

Coast to coast record is about 28 hours, to get 28 hours of music you need about 560 songs (3 minutes per song). I don’t know of a CD available (maybe a dvd, but I don’t know if they work in a CD player) that will hold anywhere near 28 hours of music.

SteveLehto > Prophet of hoon
06/25/2015 at 10:12

Oh, THAT’S real.

To suggest contrails are just made of moisture is crazy-talk.

Zoom > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 10:13

Hehehe! on Jezebel that would be serious click bait.

I am a serious Wing car fan as my family’s west Michigan Dodge franchise sold a Hemi automatic Daytona in April of ‘70 new. I talked to the second owner of that car at the Gilmour Classic Car Club museum at a car show about 10 years ago and then lost track of him.

I look forward to the book.

eurotrash > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 10:44

Mopar guys are so extreme.

sgtyukon > BigBlock440
06/25/2015 at 10:54

CD’s, plural, and a CD changer, and changing the CD’s.

Dream Theater of the Absurd > BigBlock440
06/25/2015 at 10:55

That's why God created MP3 players. :)

BigBlock440 > Dream Theater of the Absurd
06/25/2015 at 11:02

Yes it it.

BigBlock440 > sgtyukon
06/25/2015 at 11:04

Still, 80 minutes for the average CD, you’d need 21 CDs to make sure you never hear the same song. And that’s averaging 100 mph across the country. You could carry 21 different tapes just as easily (almost) as 21 different CDs.

sony1492 > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 11:24

Your book name is missing a comma. Unless Ca schools taught their students wrong.(not unlikely)

Design, development, production , and competition.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 11:25

I can’t wait for the Tucker book, please give us a preview tease.

pierce is a b > Peptide
06/25/2015 at 11:25

I’ve always said that a programmer’s least favorite phrase is “why can’t you just...”

sgtyukon > BigBlock440
06/25/2015 at 11:33

Are you arguing that cassettes are superior?

What I used to do with cassettes is carry them in the console of my pre-CD car. I had one red cassette box. So I’d take tapes from in front of it and put each one behind the red one when I’d played it. That means I listened to all cassettes in random order before I repeated any.

Still, on each cassette you always hear the same songs in the same order. You may not have the track list memorized, but when you’ve listened to your cassettes many times you will often be able to recall which song comes next. And the cassette in the car must be manually changed, while you can have a CD changer.

Plus, if you have a CD player/changer that handles MP3 files, you can have tons more songs on a CD, you can shuffle the songs and it takes much less time to make a custom CD than it does to make a custom cassette. The tapes also cost more than the CD’s, and unlike cassettes, CD’s don’t jam. So, from AM to FM to 16 rpm record player to 8-track to cassette to CD to SD card, with satellite radio thrown in there someplace, in my opinion each technological advance has made music for road trips much better.

BigBlock440 > sgtyukon
06/25/2015 at 11:44

No, I’m not arguing that cassettes are superior, just that you can’t go coast to coast using CDs without hearing the same song twice or manually changing CDs. That’s all.

BombShop > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 11:46

Wouldn’t it make more sense that the trunk was designed to clear the wing?

jjhats > BombShop
06/25/2015 at 11:50

.....no the cars in non superbird trim already existed

Ladymopar > eurotrash
06/25/2015 at 12:22

I agree! we run to a different beat :) That’s fine with me

Ladymopar > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 12:24

What book? I want to read it :)

Ladymopar > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 12:27

I can open my trunk all the way-ask the hundreds of ppl that see me rolling down the street and the looks on the kids faces when I let them sit in mine at shows. they would dissagree with you.

Ladymopar > Prophet of hoon
06/25/2015 at 12:32

We are not thin skinned, I agree, my girlfriend drives a 71 cuda and it does drive like a pig. I have to have a thick skin b/c mine is clone. ppl either hate it or love it. I would say that every car has pros and cons. I built my car for me to drive-not for anyone else to drive.

Ladymopar > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 12:41

The last show I had my car at, some kid came up and said my car was stupid and the wing is just there for looks-I had to break it down for him and show him that the wing is adjustable. and show him the numbers of my fuel milage with the wing at different degrees.

Thanks Steve for the picture and article. I have it in my book-with your name high lited (sp) People are amazed the differences in the two car wings.

One reason I built it with a high wing-no one drives them, those that have them. Soo many miles on mine I have to rebuild the engine this winter :)

Batphreak > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 12:41

Steve, I really enjoy your posts. Really looking forward to your new books (The Daytona / Superbird one and the Preston Tucker one!) I loved reading the Turbine car book! Thank you!

I have 2 cars with Cassette decks! A 1995 Nissan Maxima and a 1996 BMW 328i Convertible. They also both have CD players, too. You are not alone!

SteveLehto > sony1492
06/25/2015 at 12:46

Authors don’t do covers.

But I am sure you are aware that there is a debate about that last comma in a setting such as this.

SteveLehto > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
06/25/2015 at 12:47

I will. Stay tuned.

jjhats > Ladymopar
06/25/2015 at 12:47

I never said the trunk doesn’t open.....I only said the wing is that high so you are able to open your trunk. any smaller/lower and the trunk is inoperable

Raven7090 > webmonkees
06/25/2015 at 12:48

She’s smoking! No really, she’s smoking a cigarette. And I’m okay with that.

SteveLehto > Batphreak
06/25/2015 at 12:49

I am wondering what year the cassette finally went away. Mine is an ‘02.

Ladymopar > jjhats
06/25/2015 at 12:51

miss understood-I agree any lower it cuts off your vision in the back as well. Sorry working on my first cup of coffee.

Again, I’m bombarded with bad comments(not from ppl here) about my car that I jump and pounce, sorry.

Tohru > literacola
06/25/2015 at 12:59

Kinja'd!!!

The person with the 650S at the Chicago Auto Show is going to be upset with me then...

literacola > Tohru
06/25/2015 at 13:02

Are you out of your damn mind man? You could have sharted. Never trust a fart in public.

Tohru > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 13:05

In between every song do you have clips of your DJ days?

I sincerely wish I had more of those clips so I could make a custom radio station on Grand Theft Auto with you as the DJ.

SteveLehto > Tohru
06/25/2015 at 13:10

I actually have a lot of tapes from the old days but they get very tiring to listen to (as you might imagine). I pull them out from time to time but rarely let anyone else hear them.

Tohru > literacola
06/25/2015 at 13:12

#YOLO /s

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Ladymopar
06/25/2015 at 13:43

...I’ve never heard of a kid not liking a wing before!

MoparOrNoCar (Okay, maybe a Mazda?) > eurotrash
06/25/2015 at 14:29

Damn right.

AeroStang > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 14:44

Can we get you a stenographer? I am very interested in READING this. :)

Tohru > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 14:47

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to listen to your mix tapes in my ‘95 F150.

Kinja'd!!!

AM/FM only. No cassette, no CD. It does have PowerPoint though, which is nice.

Prophet of hoon > Ladymopar
06/25/2015 at 15:02

It is quite obvious, by your post, that you would never travel across the internet to disagree with me about an opinion. Thank you for so-well-illustrating my prior point.

Here, try this. Go to any Mopar forum and tell them you are pulling the 440 and putting an LS motor in it. You won’t survive, but your death will be a warning sign for the ages.

Bearded Bastard > literacola
06/25/2015 at 15:04

There is no such thing as a seat that has not been farted in. And if you buy a new car that is even remotely sporty or fast, it’s been burned out in, and floored to 100 km/h for a few brief seconds.

These are the things laborers in transportation jobs do to these cars

Bearded Bastard > satalac
06/25/2015 at 15:07

Just posted this too, have you worked in car hauling?

Bearded Bastard > satalac
06/25/2015 at 15:07

Just posted this too, have you worked in car hauling?

SteveLehto > AeroStang
06/25/2015 at 15:37

I don’t know if one could keep up!

SteveLehto > Tohru
06/25/2015 at 15:37

Amazing how many of those styling cues are the same as in my 02 Explorer.

Tohru > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 15:45

Pretty sure they used the same HVAC controls from 1985-2005.

SteveLehto > Tohru
06/25/2015 at 15:55

I won’t find that out until I break down and buyer a newer one.

satalac > Bearded Bastard
06/25/2015 at 16:07

No, but I have a couple of customers who are car manufacturers and have seen the people that drive them off the line. They have that freshly farted look about them. That and one of my friends used to so this all the time at the plant he worked at.

AeroStang > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 16:11

I know in this day and age the written word is going away- but I (and surely others) read many times faster than we can listen or watch. I would think running some software that listens to your voice and types it out for you wouldn’t be too much trouble. No disrespect, and I can’t argue how much MORE coverage you get by audio and video, but you’d have at least two more if it was in type, too :)

AeroStang > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 16:14

SteveLehto > AeroStang
06/25/2015 at 16:28

I’ll look into it but I suspect I will have to go in and edit (stuff you say never looks as good when written verbatim).

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 16:43

I’d be especially curious to know why they ran the filler tube right though the middle of the trunk.

Kinja'd!!!

SteveLehto > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
06/25/2015 at 16:44

How else could you run it, if you wanted the gas cap on top of the deck like that?

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 16:55

Straight down, then across? It’s a real pain in my dad’s 68 Charger. Not only is it kinda in the way of a regular Charger’s slightly larger opening, it also means fuel is more likely to drip onto the car since the nozzle is pointing down at the car when you pull it out.

SteveLehto > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
06/25/2015 at 17:00

I had a 1969 Charger as well. I always thought that was the coolest place ever for a gas cap but it was a pain in the butt. I remember (back when you didn’t pump your own gas) attendants spilling gas on the deck lid and the quarter.

I suspect that the way it is routed is the shortest, cheapest way to do it. Ease of use and maintenance are often secondary to good old fashioned Money-Saving.

Zi1toid > SteveLehto
06/25/2015 at 17:30

I still have a tape deck. 98 540i. Switched out the cd changer for a bluetooth adapter. Tape deck just stares at me awkwardly.

bombora444 > Tohru
06/25/2015 at 18:08

I had an ‘86 that still had the lever type deal that you pushed from side to side instead of the knob you turn (although it was an F-150), I believe ‘87 or ‘88 is when they got a face lift so that maybe the year they went to knob as well.

bombora444 > sony1492
06/25/2015 at 18:21

Either way is acceptable really (although becoming less and less so without the last comma) and whether or not you omit the last comma says more about what year you went through elementary school than how proper your writing is. As long as the list isn’t such that the last two items could be easily mistaken for one thing generally it doesn’t matter (like credit, and debit cards rather than credit and debit cards is one where you should definitely use a comma as they are often considered the same thing).

People used to be taught to omit this ‘serial comma’ although now they’re taught to use commas all the way through the list.

bombora444 > BigBlock440
06/25/2015 at 18:30

That’s not true, you have a 6 cd-changer loaded plus one in the deck, 7 cds. If your player supports MP3s. You can fit around 250 minutes of MP3s on a CD which gives you 29.16 hours. So, if you drove across country right around the record time you’d have around an hour of spare music without repeating anything! Of course, you’ll never actually make the trip anywhere near that fast.

BigBlock440 > bombora444
06/25/2015 at 21:10

I’m sure there are some, but really how many CD changers support MP3 CDs?

Bearded Bastard > satalac
06/25/2015 at 22:11

Ah I see, yeah, I worked at a receiving trainyard, and briefly for a shipyard, not only did unloaders thrash any car with a standard, but you'd get the trains that got broken into, and all the trucks have been sliding around on their diffs or rotors the whole way, the dealers throw a new set of rims on and the customer wonders why they have an unfixable leaking diff, among other repairs dealers do without disclosing to anyone

bombora444 > BigBlock440
06/25/2015 at 22:26

I have no idea, the 29 hour drive time is more of a theory than reality too (I’ve done that drive more than once as well as Seattle - Miami drive, they’re longer than you’d think and accidents, traffic and/or construction are impossible to avoid altogether on that many road miles). Just saying though... haha ;)