Ambrosia Software Web Board: Ice - Ambrosia Software Web Board

There is a (thin) layer of ice on the roads. Local drivers have no clue how to handle this ice. On top of this, they love to tailgate and drive too fast, so trying to go anywhere today would be suicidal.

School is closed.

I am jealous.

I'm not. Because we're starting to recover from the forth blizzard we've had in a row.

JacaByte, on Jan 17 2007, 05:22 PM, said:

: BLIZZARD ( -- ) CR ." snow";
BLIZZARD

You know what's cool? Ice.

We have no snow. Or ice. It was barely below freezing today (10-20˚ F), which is a joke.

It hasn't been below freezing all winter, but is is about 40 degrees F here.

we're hitting the negatives occasionally over here. It's insane.

... another topic about the weather?

I had so much fun scraping off the ice on Sunday after the freezing rain. I had less fun scraping off the ice and snow after the freezing rain (again) and snow storm on Tuesday.

We had a very bad ice storm in New Mexico. It was so bad that even in 4-Wheel drive, I could still fishtail very easily. I own a jeep, so that is a feat in itself.

As much as it pains me to say it, our nice 4x4's made for offroad duty really aren't worth a damn on ice. The best vehicle for ice driving would be a heavy AWD car with a very low center of gravity and high-surface area snow tires (think Subaru). A high-sitting truck on offroad (read:low percentage of tire surface contact with road) tires really doesn't make out all that well.

-Pufer

Yay for snow tires.. and an elderly sports car.

I take the bus to school. Not the school bus though, the city bus.

Sometimes wierd people get on the bus with me. It's an interesting experience.

Riding on a bus can be an interesting experience. Drunks hobos and schizos. yay!

Pufer, on Jan 18 2007, 09:12 PM, said:

Yay for going twice as fast as everyone else and BEING SAFER!!

<-Frequently drives an Outback with snow tires.

<---- Has never driven a car with snow tires on it.

<---Almost bought an Outback before he negotiated a better deal on a Pathfinder, might buy one anyway eventually.

-Pufer

I highly recommend them. They are nice, especially if you can get one with leather seats.

Yeah, I had a nice LL Bean version picked out, two tone mint green and tan exterior and two-tone leather interior, but due to Pufer's rules of auto dealer negotiation, I couldn't buy it.

Pufer's Rules of Auto Dealer Negotiation
1. A car's primary purpose is to get you around. Most can do this with acceptable proficiency. Identify a certain class of cars to look for, not a specific color, year, make, model, options package.
2. Do your research before hand. Know the target price range of all the vehicles you're looking at as options, mileage, and age vary. Know the precise value of your trade-in if applicable.
3. If you see something you like on the lot not on your list of cars, look at it, test drive it, talk up the salesperson, but leave and research it before getting down to negotiations.
4. Clear two full days for negotiations on any vehicle.
5. They assume that if you're still there, you're seriously interested and will keep talking to you. They will even go so far as to trick you to stay. Use this against them and never move. Confusion on your motives is to your benefit, make them make you leave.
6. Assume that there is nothing that they cannot do.
7. Everything is negotiable and you can negotiate everything with anybody.
8. Don't use your real signature on anything that isn't official.
9. Get a CarFax report up front with used cars (never pay for it, of course). Make sure the thing isn't stolen or a lemon and all the normal things, but the real reason to do it is to see how long your target vehicle has been on the lot. The last purchase listed will be when the lot purchased the car, they want it gone if its been more than a month, they'll throw in a second car if its been sitting there 6 months.
10. They won't work with you if you want to negotiate everything at once (or even express an interest in negotiating everything at any time). Focus the negotiations on one thing at a time. Go with full price and ignore questions about monthly payments and crap like that (or change the figure occasionally).
11. There is no amount too minor to give up on. Even if it's $100, you can walk away.
12. Negotiate your trade-in's value, but don't let it be the determining factor in your purchase. If you've negotiated a good enough price on the new vehicle, you can always just buy it and sell your trade-in for more money later. Remember what you're there for.
13. After you've finally agreed, get some last minute kick-ins. An extra $100 for your trade. Free full detail for the new car. Some dealership hats, keychains, jackets, etc. Free tank of gas a week from now with a carwash. The salesman will be so relieved at making his commission that he'll sign away his life.
14. Negotiate on interest rate. Bring that day's newspaper listing interest rates for local credit unions. Pledge to work with the loan-guy and not necessarily take the absolute lowest rate if one of the other low rates won't give him as large a commission and you might not get the run-around. That said, don't accept anything but one of the lowest three or four.
15. Extended warranties aren't always huge scams depending on the car and the warranty company. Use your discretion.
16. Read every single letter of the contract, paying special attention to every single number on there. They will try to add something on at the very end, don't let them. You can still walk away.
17. You can always return the vehicle until the paperwork is finalized and your money is in their account (usually about a day, but I try to buy on a Saturday before some sort of holiday so you have at least Sunday and the holiday Monday before the bank opens up again).

The proof: Looking for class of vehicles including rather high-class versions of lower echelon wagons or smaller SUV's or stripper versions of high-class large cars, wagons, small SUV's. Emphasis on reliability over newness. Look at Subaru Outback L.L. Bean Edition. Great car. $24,495. CarFax says that it's only been there three weeks, this'll be a hard sell. Negotiate with two salesmen, actual manager for 10 hours over two days. Will get me low interest rate, knock $5,000 off price. Won't budge from $19.2K though and giving me s### deal on trade. Looking to break $19K barrier, so no dice. Walk.

Next weekend, same class. Touring lot with rookie salesman (first customer). Nissan Pathfinder. Qualifies as stripper version of Infiniti QX4 so in class. Slightly elevated mileage (4K over average), not a 4x4, black. Asking $23,995. All minuses, tell salesman this, but a great car in quite good condition. Hit up CarFax report. Been in stock for 8 months, off-lease vehicle (!!!!!!!). I'm going for the jugular. Negotiate til the joint closes (about 4 hours), leave because I hate the color/no 4WD. Show back up next morning, state I still hate the color (black and desert don't mix), but might still buy if deal good enough. They send in the hard-sell veteran negotiator to show the rookie the ropes. Six hours later, the price is at $17,250, I've sold him my trade for $1,500, well over it's listed trade-in value, without him having ever seen it as I left it at home. I've forgone an ultra-low interest rate for a monthly-compiling loan (not all interest added up front) with no early payoff penalty (good because I overpay each month's bill by about $50), but it's still better than average. As he walks away I hit him up for an extra $100 on my trade, a free full detail for the truck, vouchers worth $100 in gas (plus a free tank when I bring it in for the detail at the time of my choosing), a license plate holder, a hat, a water bottle, and a keychain, plus they'd swing by my place and pick up my trade-in so I didn't have to drive back to the dealership. It apparently set in the next day when my trade's clutch grenaded on it's way back to the dealership and the higher-ups realized that they had let the Pathfinder go for $250 below Blue Book private party value (much less dealership value) that I had taken them for a ride. The veteran hard-sell agent had to convince them that it wasn't his fault, so he blamed the rookie who was subseqently fired (if you're reading this Russell the ex-car dealer, I'm sorry). I showed up the next week for my free detail and tank of gas and nobody would even make eye-contact with me while they got the detail crew out there. That's how you negotiate!

-Pufer

God, I love when he does that

<-- is going to learn to drive in a will-be-11-year-old Outback in less than a year.

Yeah, clear the roads. Be ######ing afraid!

I have to admit, I love de-snowing and de-icing cars.

Vinegar?

-Pufer

... holy crap, Pufer. That was intense.

My grandpa has de-icer in his windshield cleaner things. I should probably know the names of those things...

Pufer. I'm recognizing the allusion...a.k.a. the Puferfish...Pufer like a balloon...Puf, but with the -er...Puff-er...Puff-er-(implied fish)...backwards that would be...(hsif deilpmi)-re-ffuP...



...I'm getting this...either:

a) he (she?) has some connection (genetic or figurative) with fish.

b ) he/she (it?) has an emotional addiction to "puffing up", or exploding irrationally (in this case, with much knowledge)

c) he/she/it enjoys Pixar's film Finding Nemo.

d) Finding Nemo was based off of Pufer.

e) he/she/it is not a he/she/it, but some other form than he/she/it, perhaps something from an outdated science fiction book.

f) there's no such thing as outdated science fiction books.

g) he/she/it (or otherwise) knows that there is no such thing as outdated science fiction books, and is trying to preserve the illusion.

h) all of the above

i) none of the above

j) north

k) all vowels

l) all letters that are included in the name (alias?) : "Pufer."

m) "Pu" is a latin root meaning "crap", and fer is a latin root meaning "fertile", thus creating the name "crap fertile", which because of the standard placement of adjectives after the subject (which also somewhat carried over to the French), if translated grammatically, would mean: "fertile crap."

Perhaps he's an environmentalist.

This post has been edited by stealthymatt: 22 January 2007 - 04:12 PM