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I think what he meant is that TLM is the first address he checked, because it's so close to home.

I got confused because you used miles instead of km as the unit of distance... unless of course The Netherlands have replaced the metric system with the Imperial one since I left Europe?

FWIW in this thread, I'm a Navistar Defense Master Field Service Representative. (Navistar Defense qualification is identical to Navistar proper) We were issued full-stack military PCs with diagnostic software for every wheeled vehicle the military owned at the time. (2007-2010) HOWEVER only the International/Navistar software was unlocked on our PCs. The military was issued a service package with every new vehicle which had *all* of the software unlocked; of course, nobody knew how to use it and for them to take full advantage of the diagnostics, they needed someone like me from each relevant company to teach them (Navistar, Allison, OshKosh, BAE etc.) so I had a few years to sort through the specifics and politics of it; at the end of the day, it has *NOTHING* to do with warranty, or safety, or data security. It has *EVERYTHING* to do with licensing revenue. Simple As.

You ar right it is close to where I live and I checked with them at there New Years party :-). They will keep an eye out, but do not have a frame currently. Thank Jaap, that is indeed what I meant.

Geez...that's more than the car itself! I could see a $7-10K range if you wanted something exceptional...but beyond that, seems outrageous unless they were shipping it back to Stuttgart on its own private container ship!

On a related tangent...I was in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago, and visited for the 3rd time a Museum called the Museum of Instrumental Music. The Museum is a huge and fascinating tour of the world by continent, by country and shows all of the instruments of each country...truly an amazing collection including many rare guitars of all sorts and designs and a section on musicians from the 40's to current (Earl Scruggs, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Celia Cruz and many other well known artists). They also have special exhibits...and the one this time of year was on Stradivarius...Violins and Guitars. An impeccable collection of items to see in person.

Stradivarius !

Yes, I did. This is 70 miles from my home. 😀

@PJPR01 MPH has closed down the Park Ten Avenue location... I went today, and they were finishing the packing. I spoke to Davey, he does not know yet when they are going to be up and running at the new place. I am sad to have lost the convenience to have a garage working on Moto Guzzi 10 minutes from home. According to Mike, business will be unaffected, and I understand why. His customers get their bikes delivered by transporters, they don't really ride them. So it does not matter where.

Well , GMC , what do you have to report ?

ScreenRecording_01-24-2025 08-50-05_1.mov 👏👏👏 Outstanding 🇺🇸

Makes sense. The lever always seems to remain solid indefinitely after the procedure though. Phil

Is it too much? I am not sure what you imply... In Texas, 70 miles is like next door...

You know how much they wanted to charge me for a paint job on the 911? 50k!!! The guy said because it is very challenging on a convertible...

Little brat !

@PJPR01 I am certain you can A.I. this as well as I do, but just in case: Downsides to vinyl wrapping your car Wraps look great and can bring a quick pop of color or a unique pattern to your car, but they’re not always the best choice. You’ll need to consider the downsides of a vinyl wrap, which can be significant, depending on where you live and how you use your vehicle. Vinyl requires attention and care, and you can’t park for too long in direct sun or extremely hot areas. You’ll need to clean the surface regularly, especially if you see bird droppings, bugs, or salt/sand — but automatic or touchless car washes are a big no-no, and you can’t use a harsh abrasive cleaner. While wraps look and feel like regular paint, you should treat them like a sticker, which they are. The hassle might outweigh any benefits you get.

I keep an eye on batteries since my company has used Lithium batteries in our proprietary tools from the 80's. A long time before anybody in the public could even say Lithium in a generic conversation. At that time, we had a partnership with a battery manufacturer, SAFT. My company was funding their research for batteries with a longer autonomy, while being submitted to hydrocarbon wells temperatures. At the time, I was a tester for the batteries, SAFT showed me how dangerous Lithium was, and how difficult a Lithium fire was to put out. Anyway, the number 1 vehicle battery manufacturer has introduced a battery using new chemistry; LFP for Lithium Iron Phosphate, instead of what you typically find in cars today; Its interesting to me, because when I left my company, we were using Lithium Oxyphosphate batteries in our tools already. That was in 2015! Here's the article from the horse's mouth: CATL, the Chinese company responsible for powering 80% of the EV market. https://www.catl.com/en/news/6091.html About the Solid State batteries, and when they will become standard in cars, there are only assumptions. What is known, is that all the battery manufacturers, including CATL, are actively working to iron out the known issues of Solid State batteries, the most notorious one is their prohibitive cost, another is reliability. Today's actual target to install Solid State batteries in cars is set to 2027, although a Chinese car manufacturer has it planned for 2026. Some of the major car manufacturers, all are invested in Solid State batteries, which seems to be the next step to break through the EV adoption plateau the world is seeing today. I heard that the US is also actively trying to get a foothold in Solid State battery technology.

Uhh, cars.. like phones, are only charged to 80% to maximize battery life unless absolutely necessary. On a trip the navigation will take you to a supercharger when you have 15-20% charge left. Then, it will only charge as much as needed to get to the next supercharger on the route when you have 15-20% left. Generally, that takes around 15 minutes, but can be less. A trip certainly takes longer because of that, but Dorcia and I made a pact 20 years or so ago to stop every two hours and walk around a bit to ward off blood clots in old people's legs. That argument is a non starter for us but YMMV.

I need a bumper sticker saying, "I bought it before I realized he was such a @#$$#!." Best car I've ever had, too, Brad. By far. Maintenance is eating me up, though.. in 50K miles, I've had to fill the windshield washer bottle. Twice. It's pretty good in the snow, considering we aren't running anything special for tires. If it gets bogged down, (not much ground clearance) putting it in "off road" mode or "slip start" will getcha going. Edit: Apparently the site *really*didn't care for what I think of him..