Snowing All The Way Home

Snow Tires just rock.

The snow started coming down here around 2 pm and we've had about 6-8 inches or so, with more expected.

Between the Bridgestone Blizzaks and four-wheel drive, my trusty RAV4 made it through the driving mounds of snow without complaint.

I made it home no problem, after maneuvering around quite a number of cars that didn't have snow tires nor an understanding of both basic physics and the basic technique of driving in a heavy snowstorm - go slower than normal but not so slow as to lose any momentum and get stuck, and stay in control.

Currently there's a large tow truck stuck on our street that managed to get bogged down after freeing one of the three cars that couldn't stay out of the ditches on the street in this storm. It has now been stuck for the past three hours or so creating what Leah is cheerfully describing as "epic entertainment"! She's now watched a van, a pickup truck and other vehicles try to pull it out of the ditch to no avail. Of course, with all this pulling and wheel-spinning they've now created a patch of solid ice on that side of the street which will be just great to deal with tomorrow.

My car, by comparison, is comfy and warm in my garage after making it up the driveway of doom to the house.

Digging us out tomorrow morning should be quite a bit of beneficial exercise.

The Hits Keep On Coming...

I had just completed a seminar presentation at the business center at Michigan State University in East Lansing on business entity legal considerations and was heading back to the office this afternoon to get some work done and then start a relaxing weekend.

It was not to be.

At the corner of Hagadorn and Mt. Hope, minding my own business, stopped completely at a red light with a grey Nissan Titan truck to my front and nothing behind me, relaxing after a fun but involved presentation, looking ahead at the lights, waiting for them to change and wa-bam!

The RAV4 was struck from behind, hard enough that it was pushed forward to hit the truck in front of me even as I was on the breaks.

I had a very weird feeling as it happened, watching my car moving closer to the truck - I clearly remember thinking "What the heck is happening, my car is moving forward and I'm on the brake, what the hell?"

Not a pleasant feeling.

And this was the result:

Ouch. In addition, my left pinky finger feels sprained or something and hurts like a bugger. I'm not sure how it happened as both hands were on the wheel at the moment of impact. The back is also sore but the neck is fine so far.

In addition to mine, he managed to make his car not look too good either:

Interestingly, there was no damage to the Titan visible, but my front bumper had some grey marks on it and one of the plastic things popped out and I shoved it back into place.

It turns out that the fellow wasn't paying attention, had looked behind him to talk to his kid, saw the cars in the lane next to him move and must have just hammered the gas pedal. The problem of course was that that lane was the left turn lane and it was moving on a green arrow!

Thankfully the kid was unhurt because he was properly buckled up in a booster seat, so the guy is not a complete moron. Nice fellow, very apologetic and was kinda shaken and shocky over the whole incident.

The lady whose truck my car taped was also a decent sport about it and was impressed her truck had no damage and the front of my car only a bit considering the impact we both felt. Given the extensive damage I called the police and about a half hour later the Meridian Township Police officer arrived, got everyone's data and heard everyone's statements and went to write his report. Good and courteous fellow. So we got an accident report out of it and the guy was cited, I believe for careless driving. Happily, the RAV was still drivable so I drove it homeward and called my friend who owns a collision shop and I dropped it off there and it now awaits the adjuster's assessment. That's a non-preferred way of starting a weekend off with a bang. It's also the second frickkin time I've been minding my own business stopped at a red light and I get rear ended by someone not paying attention. I'm beginning to wonder if inattentive drivers are mistaking the spare tire cover for a target marker. Sheesh.

Expect A Snowstorm Soon....

Brace yourselves, I just removed the snow tires from the RAV4.

Considering that putting them on resulted in a lack of snow this season, expect a nasty snowfall shortly now that they're off.

My Contribution to Global Warming

Yesterday night, I had a set of Bridgestone Blizzak Snow Tires installed on my RAV4.

This expenditure, as totemic as a carbon offset, should ensure a lack of snow this winter.

You can thank me later.

On vehicles, and the value of Paying Attention

So, on the way to the USPSA match yesterday and going to pick up my friend Rob for his first match, I was minding my own business. Stopped at a red light with a car to my front, a car (A Kia Sportage) to my rear and a Police car ahead in the left lane with a car behind it.

The light turns green. The officer floors it, and the car behind her proceeds in her wake. The car ahead of me pauses, considers and takes its sweet time deciding to move, and then finally begins to roll forward. I take my foot off the brake, and I'm about to hit the gas and

BANG!

The whole RAV4 jumps forward and I'm pressed against my seat belt from the impact.

The lady driving the Kia Sportage decided not to wait for the traffic in front of her to move.

This, I think, is about to suck.

So we pull over and I indicate we should get off the main road so we make the turn rather than going through as planned.

Flashing lights then appear. The officer actually heard the bang and came back. So we all pull into a parking lot and get out to inspect the damage.

Amazingly, it seems by RAV4 is unmarked.

It appears Mrs. Kia rammed into my tire cover on the rear of the car. The tire cover must have flexed to avoid cracking or denting, and once I get a car wash we'll see if there are any scratches. Both the flexing and the dirt likely acted as a buffer to the impact. I had figured on massive damage given the sound and the feeling but there is nothing really visible at first glance.

Her Kia however looks quite the worse for wear - the plastic grill is badly cracked and the hood has a nice fold in it. Did I mention she's got plently of prior dents in the vehicle from what look like plentiful prior accidents?

So she tells the officer the following story:

She's on her way to church and saw the light turn green, then looked down and reached down to get something while hitting the gas.

She also mentions she's originally from Chicago and couldn't believe the guy in front of me didn't hurry up and go when the light turned green.

Brilliant. This kind of driving attitude and attention to detail could explain a lot of the pre-existing damage on her car.

So we all hand over our licenses, registration, insurance and I produced my CPL as required, no big deal.

The lady begins to claim she can't find her license or insurance or registration.

Another police car shows up and the officers confer.

After awhile, losing all the time advantage of leaving early for the match, the second officer comes up, hands me my paperwork and a copy of the accident receipt in case I need to pull the accident report and says I'm free to go.

She gets to stick around a while longer.

So the score is now RAV4 - 1 Kia Sportage - 0, with an own-goal no less.

Goodbye Jeep, Hello RAV4!

After 11 years since its production and 8 years in my care and over 152,000 miles, it was time for the Jeep to go.

So introducing the new dive-, shooting-, kiddie transport- and everything else mobile my new Toyota RAV4.

My first new car, ever. Now I know what they mean by that new car smell.

11 Years worth of technology upgrades and automotive know-how makes this a very smooth and fuel efficient ride. So much so that I calculated I'm going to save $80 a month in gas at current prices. The 4 cylinder engine has plenty of pep and while it is not as quick on acceleration as the Jeep with the straight six, its actually pretty close.

I've already taken it to the dive site and the side opening rear door is perfect for gearing up - unlike the Jeep it does not come crashing back down on my head at awkward moments, such as when both arms are busy. The tanks and gear fit in perfectly.

The interior is quite roomy with everything laid out in a logical fashion, the seats are more comfy and form fitting and the suspension is so much nicer.

In short, its a very impressive vehicle and should be very suitable for everything I need it to do.

I spent quite some time online researching compact SUVs to decide possible worthy successors to the Cherokee.

Now I did try at first to buy American, but was stumped. You see, in the Detroit area they don't advertise the price that you as a consumer will actually be charged for the car. No. Instead it is the employee price plus lease loyalty and all sorts of other discounts that the non-employee doesn't qualify for so figuring out what you will actually be facing when you go to sit down and make a deal is just about impossible.

That is how a Jeep Liberty advertised as a $144/month lease ended up being $286-296 after the test drive and once we sat down to discuss it with the salesman (even with a CDI number I was being given by a friend), and the Jeep Patriot ended up costing even more! Apparently the Patriot's residual value is so bad, you can buy it for just $60/month more than the lease.

As to the Jeep Liberty, I was hoping it would be a worthy successor to the Jeep Cherokee it replaced. The current version doesn't even come close.

The steering was brutally stiff, so much so I wondered if the power steering was defective, the ride extra harsh and pickup seemed much less with as much road noise as the old Jeep. The turning radius was worse as was the overall responsiveness. After 11 years of engineering and IMHO an inferior engine that is all of 2 mpg more fuel efficient than the Cherokee it replaced, not impressive. In addition, the setup and height into the passenger compartment made it very hard for the kids to get up into the back seat - far worse than the Cherokee. If you want truck-like handling that makes it feel like a much larger truck than it is along with feeling every bump on the road in your lumbar region (this is not a good thing), go for it.

The Jeep Patriot was rather intriguing - 4WD, smooth handling, fuel efficiency with a 4 cylinder almost matching the RAV4s, good pickup, a decent layout and a CVT transmission that was capable if very noisy, but the price was ridiculous and a deal breaker. The salesman weren't willing to work things out package wise and couldn't make a 4WD fit our budget requirements. Maybe in three years when this RAV4 lease ends I'll look again at some Patriots coming off lease if they hold up. I expect they'll be going for quite cheap as most of the value of it will have been paid for in the 3 lease years.

Thence we went to Toyota and the experience was completely different.

At the Toyota dealership the advertised price was the actual price on arrival at the dealership. Quite refreshing after the Jeep experience. The sales staff were friendly, not pushy and very helpful in getting cars out to try and answering all my questions, not to mention encouraging me to take my time and thoroughly drive the car to be sure I like it.

So I now have a new RAV4.

Something to be said about the capitalist system when you can get a superior and more refined automobile for less than a demonstrably inferior one. So my first non-American car and so far its been a top rate driving experience.

I'll miss the Jeep but I'm really enjoying my new ride.