Considering trade in mine for the CVT

[defensivetackle88]

Interesting. Hope no further issues arise after the door handle. I hate that unknown feeling.

[7milesout]

Just got the door handle fixed tonight and the door put back together. The blinkers, I'm at my wit's end. But at least it can go back on the road now.

[Dirk Diggler]

Thank you Mark.

IÂ’m going to get me a brand new sedan. No manual this time. IÂ’m done driving a manual. Yeah it is fun to drive admittedly, engaging to operate and inexpensive to get it maintained however it does not benefits my lifestyle at all or else I would had kept it.

I had thought of getting a 2nd (used) Mirage with a CVT for a while but it isn’t that prudent. I mean the Mirage could no longer be had for cheap as $3k like the past. I also realized that I’ll be spending more on inevitable maintenance, registration, insurance, and or repair which isn’t fun. So scratch that idea entirely as it leads to my next point.

I absolutely will not get me a used. IDC if it a single owner or how reliable or cheap it can be had in the private/used car market than my ex-G4, it still USED with unknown history of maintenance and repair. I donÂ’t want to spend any more $ on tires, seats, belts, radio, bulbs, panels, glass just months after getting a used gr8 condition car. I got burned so many times from acquiring 01 Pathfinder, 01 Frontier, 04 Titan, 10 Accord, 05 Corolla, 06 Prius and 05 Highlander (currently owned).

The pre buyer inspection could only do so much these days which arguably a hit or miss. Plus, the idea of spending $15-25k on used worn car is flat out non-sense that it already ideal to get a new sedan in 2023 as Beside, I would have to pay more $$$ in sale tax on top of the sale price based on primary residency and the unfortunate part is that I do not get tax incentive from a trade.

I’m getting old. I’m going to get me a Mirage G4 CVT. I’m sure MrFixIt and Johnny Mullet are enjoying their CVT variant lol.

Los Angeles would be the last city I'd want to drive with a manual transmission, especially on the 405. That particular freeway is brutal to be stuck on at 530pm, during a summer, in the City of Angels. Like that great Michael Douglass flick, "Falling Down".

[7milesout]

I drove in that heavy traffic of Los Angeles one time. It was concerning. I don't know if I was lucky or not, but what happened was: It was 3 or 4 lanes going one direction. Every lane was packed, we were all riding nose to tail, but we were all rolling FAST. You could make a move left or right but you had to be VERY CAREFUL.

It was shocking because it was completely PACKED and we were all flying. It looked like something that would have had to be coordinated. All it would have taken was 1 F/U and it would have been a 999 car pileup. I was in a rental car or I would have been sweating my balls off, and would have backed off the car in front of me. I've never experienced the same since that one time. It was in the vicinity of TRD (Toyota Racing Development).

[Dirk Diggler]

I drove in that heavy traffic of Los Angeles one time. It was concerning. I don't know if I was lucky or not, but what happened was: It was 3 or 4 lanes going one direction. Every lane was packed, we were all riding nose to tail, but we were all rolling FAST. You could make a move left or right but you had to be VERY CAREFUL.

It was shocking because it was completely PACKED and we were all flying. It looked like something that would have had to be coordinated. All it would have taken was 1 F/U and it would have been a 999 car pileup. I was in a rental car or I would have been sweating my balls off, and would have backed off the car in front of me. I've never experienced the same since that one time. It was in the vicinity of TRD (Toyota Racing Development).

The 405 reminds me of 285. I'd put Atlanta in the top 5 of worst places to drive. Houston #1, LA #2, NYC #3, Atlanta #4, Miami #5.

[7milesout]

To me, the worst thing about I-285 are the ...... fly-bys. Regardless of the mantra that you have to do 110 mph on I-285 or you get run over, I usually do 65 mph, sometimes 70 mph. And generally noone bothers me. However, there is the often, if not frequent, Malibu, Charger, Challenger, Sonata that goes flying by absolutely as fast as they can. Between 80 mph and 120 mph, depends on how long ago they cleared the previous car to give them time to accelerate. I will say that generally speaking, this select crowd is usually fairly coordinated and can generally handle what they're doing. Not one of them have bothered me, I'm too slow for them to bother with me. And I stay out of their way. There are others that should not be doing it though. I actually kind of like hearing the loud V8 Chargers and Challengers fly by, they sound really great.

The only time I ever see any law enforcement on I-285, is for a crash. There's no wonder all the truckers refer to I-285 as "The Watermelon 500." I'm not joking. The truckers hate it in Atlanta.

ON EDIT: Let me add, that I don't run The Watermelon 500 when traffic is way heavy. If I know I'm going to have to, I wait around until it is dying down. It's not bad at the times I drive it.

[Fummins]

And I thought driving around here sucked lol I wouldn't last a minute out there!

[Dirk Diggler]

And I thought driving around here sucked lol I wouldn't last a minute out there!

And also toss in most drivers probably have a firearm in the glove box too lol.

[Dirk Diggler]

To me, the worst thing about I-285 are the ...... fly-bys. Regardless of the mantra that you have to do 110 mph on I-285 or you get run over, I usually do 65 mph, sometimes 70 mph. And generally noone bothers me. However, there is the often, if not frequent, Malibu, Charger, Challenger, Sonata that goes flying by absolutely as fast as they can. Between 80 mph and 120 mph, depends on how long ago they cleared the previous car to give them time to accelerate. I will say that generally speaking, this select crowd is usually fairly coordinated and can generally handle what they're doing. Not one of them have bothered me, I'm too slow for them to bother with me. And I stay out of their way. There are others that should not be doing it though. I actually kind of like hearing the loud V8 Chargers and Challengers fly by, they sound really great.

The only time I ever see any law enforcement on I-285, is for a crash. There's no wonder all the truckers refer to I-285 as "The Watermelon 500." I'm not joking. The truckers hate it in Atlanta.

ON EDIT: Let me add, that I don't run The Watermelon 500 when traffic is way heavy. If I know I'm going to have to, I wait around until it is dying down. It's not bad at the times I drive it.

That's one thing I love, lazy cops lol. Means less tickets for me. I usually go 75mph on 285 if I'm able. Where 75 and 285 connect, is arguably one of the most dangerous sections of hwy in the country. The GA DOT Civil engineers have got to be massive idiots IMO. Who designs a city where two major federal hwys merge into each other in the middle of downtown?

[7milesout]

Where 75 & 285 meet is not what most consider downtown. I know you know that. But you lost me if you're talking about 75 & 285 near you, or if you mean 75, 85, and 20 in the nucleus of the Thunderdome. In any event, it's all bad. However, if you think about the roads from their infancy (wild animal traces, horse trails, wagon trails, dirt roads, etc, etc, etc, growth & time, etc, etc), to me it becomes clear as to why it is the way it is. And that the DOT has to deal with it as best they can.

I fantasize about what it would be like if everyone paid 100% attention to their driving, and stayed right on the speed limit. I think rush hour traffic would just be heavy, but would move. A fantasy for sure, nothing of the sort will ever happen (unless computers control all traffic).