New England Off Topic and Banter as Most Brilliantly Proposed by Cape Cod MINI

[MetalMiniMayhem]

Quote: Originally Posted by snek (original)

They buy insurance for their insurance and pedicures for their pets, but god forbid they would splurge on a set of snow tires for their cars!

Done venting after covering 14.3 miles in 4.5 hours .. Thank you.

you said a mouthful there..!... I have the Pirelli Winter Carving 205/60/r15's on Ministopheles.. haven't had an issue yet.. then you see al these guys with SUV's that think "oh it's a big heacy truck, it can go anywhere" and they're fishtailing all over the place.. I figure it this way, if you can't afford proper tires for your car/SUV/truck, you can't afford your vehicle...

btw.. took me a half hour to get to work this morning, much more like it..

[Actual Size]

Quote: Originally Posted by blalor (original)

It is bee-you-tiful out there! Fluffy white stuff all over the place!

Quote: Originally Posted by Cape Cod MINI (original)

Looks nice out there w/ the snow falling and the outside christmas lights glowing.

You two are sick and obviously need professional help.

[holdenontoit]

Quote: Originally Posted by Actual Size (original)

You two are sick and obviously need professional help.

I'm with you , what is wrong with people that "love" this crap?

[blalor]

Quote: Originally Posted by MetalMiniMayhem (original)

then you see al these guys with SUV's that think "oh it's a big heacy truck, it can go anywhere" and they're fishtailing all over the place..

Some of us do that intentionally, you know...

I literally laughed out loud (and pointed and laughed some more) when I saw a huge, hideous body kit and 22" wheels on a Suburban in the snow yesterday. The body kit was one of those that you usually see on clapped-out '94 Civics that looks like it was made from a homeless man's box and chicken fence. I was disappointed to see him get through the intersection, 'cause I thought for sure he was dead in the water with those skinny "performance" tires. Maybe weight does count for something...

Quote: Originally Posted by Actual Size (original)

You two are sick and obviously need professional help.

I have a 4x4 and a snow blower. All is right with the world.

[snek]

"Gee, my tires say all-season and winter is one of them. I'm all set to drive in a blizzard..."

[blalor]

In my opinion, "all-season" means "bad in all seasons".

[Bonnie Blue]

Yellowminy, if your job is only 5 - 10 minutes away, why don't you walk to your job? Or, ride a bike with snow tires?

[snek]

"Hm, swimming suit is for swimming, gym shorts are for the gym... what could possibly snow tires be for...?"

[yellowmininy]

Because it's 2 miles, and I often work until midnight. And the walk involves some very dangerous intersections to cross as a pedestrian (2 pedestrians struck in November). When I did live closer I walked, but now it would be 4 miles round trip, up hill both ways.

[NoNo]

I made it home pretty easily yesterday. Sure it was slow, but the highway was plowed well. I was certainly glad I didn't live 30 miles to the north anymore. Got all the way home and slid right past my driveway. After a few tries, I skidded my way back up the hill and into the driveway. Of course, the driveway is just wider than the car, with the house on the left and a rock wall to the right. Not much room for slippage there. It then changed to sleet for the rest of the day. Looks like the north is going to get hammered this weekend and we're just getting rain

[hwy61]

My son Jesse left SCSU in New Haven and arrived promptly in Enfield seven hours later...a no-fun ride !!!!

[GBMINI]

Josh called to say it took him six hours of driving to get home last night, plus an hour of stops to rest! And then he's spent much of the night trying ot get his home heating to work ... apparently down in Newton, the side roads are still un-plowed!

For me, probably 45 minutes to get home instead of 20, and thanks to the teens who called last night and dug out our paths & drive, the trip in this morning was hardly different to normal

[snid]

Since my check engine light isn't on as of this morning, I'm staying up here and working instead of heading down to MoP. Of course it's only a matter of time until the light pops on again. But since I hate it when (at work) I have to try to fix a problem that I cannot recreate, I'll save the MoP techs from that situation.

[blalor]

You made me think of this review I read recently: OBD-II Actron 9135 Scanner Review | The Truth About Cars

Quote:

Driving my new 2004 Audi with the family on a vacation to Sanibel Island, the check engine light (CEL) illuminated. We were 125 miles from home. In the past, an engine warning light would trigger panic, confusion and nameless dread. (Owners’ manuals are no help; they simply tell afflicted drivers to take the car to an official dealer.) All I could do was find, phone and visit a local dealer (if they were open) or limp home, knowing that every mile might be making an unknown situation worse. These days, I have an alternative: the OBD-II Actron 9135 scanner.

They're fairly inexpensive. I think Josh's ScanGauge (which I *think* has now been superseded by a new model) can also read codes. Given your distance from the dealership and your propensity for repeated hard-to-diagnose issues (*cough*airbag!*cough*), this sounds like it'd be a good thing to have.

Which makes me think of this article from today: The Truth About Automotive Electronics Pt. 3: The Ugly | The Truth About Cars

Quote:

Nevertheless, as heavily electronic cars age, the cost of repairs will overwhelm the market values of those cars. This may be the final ironic twist of modern automotive electronics: rendering eight-year-old cars about as valuable as eight-year-old computers.

[snid]

A scan tool (heh - he said "tool") would simply tell me "too lean", most likely. Which would tell me nothing.

Most scan tools are uesless for MINI airbags. I've asked around at the local BMW specialist shops, and they say their scan tools not only cannot reset an airbag light, they can't even tell you what part of the airbag system is causing problems.