Car Talk 4: The Richard Hertz Rent-A-Car 500

[troyguitar]

Bought for $50K. Worth $500K. Inflation break-even is at $350K.

$150K overtop of keeping up with inflation on a property that can be lived on? Yeah, that's a pretty good gain.

True, the ability to live in/rent is a game changer on the investment for sure. That makes it harder to gauge how much the market actually outperforms real estate.

Yeah add up 50 years of rent...

[max225]

Over 50 years? Not really.

Look up what the market has done in that time.

Bought for $50K. Worth $500K. Inflation break-even is at $350K.

$150K overtop of keeping up with inflation on a property that can be lived on? Yeah, that's a pretty good gain.

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

[Huckleberry]

Bought for $50K. Worth $500K. Inflation break-even is at $350K.

$150K overtop of keeping up with inflation on a property that can be lived on? Yeah, that's a pretty good gain.

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

Unless that $50K went into things like RKO Radio and Studebaker.

[max225]

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

Unless that $50K went into things like RKO Radio and Studebaker.

is true.

[CorvetteWaxer]

Bought for $50K. Worth $500K. Inflation break-even is at $350K.

$150K overtop of keeping up with inflation on a property that can be lived on? Yeah, that's a pretty good gain.

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

I would be a ton of cash if it was in the S&P, but we don't know if they paid cash or did a 30 year loan on it, meaning they didn't have the investment into the market to make those gains.

My Grandmother bought her house in 1965 for $24 or $25k in Mountain View and did a few mortgages on it over time. In the end in 2000 it was worth $1.9M. I think the Bay Area beat out the stock market with "old property", but not too many other places did. There were some lean years on the S&P though that would take some balls to ride it out and not pull the money.

[max225]

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

I would be a ton of cash if it was in the S&P, but we don't know if they paid cash or did a 30 year loan on it, meaning they didn't have the investment into the market to make those gains.

My Grandmother bought her house in 1965 for $24 or $25k in Mountain View and did a few mortgages on it over time. In the end in 2000 it was worth $1.9M. I think the Bay Area beat out the stock market with "old property", but not too many other places did. There were some lean years on the S&P though that would take some balls to ride it out and not pull the money.

All time highs on everything here again, stock + property, lunacy...

[D Griff]

I would be a ton of cash if it was in the S&P, but we don't know if they paid cash or did a 30 year loan on it, meaning they didn't have the investment into the market to make those gains.

My Grandmother bought her house in 1965 for $24 or $25k in Mountain View and did a few mortgages on it over time. In the end in 2000 it was worth $1.9M. I think the Bay Area beat out the stock market with "old property", but not too many other places did. There were some lean years on the S&P though that would take some balls to ride it out and not pull the money.

All time highs on everything here again, stock + property, lunacy...

Well, it’s pretty much all time highs forever until they cease, and then the whole system will

[CaleDeRoo]

My rental is a giant brand new Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

Dis a big bitch. Comically large. I don't like the heated steering wheel. Brakes are horrific.

Should be a good highway cruiser. We'll find out tomorrow.

[Johnny_P]

My rental is a giant brand new Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

Dis a big bitch. Comically large. I don't like the heated steering wheel. Brakes are horrific.

Should be a good highway cruiser. We'll find out tomorrow.

Not wrong. The wife unit would love it for sure. But for me it just means I’ll be sweating even quicker. When it’s cold out you dress for cold. When you sit in a car dressed for cold and are immediately assaulted with heat wattage from every angle you over heat.

What makes it worse is the buttons for this frippery are buried in the touch screen so you have no idea if they are on until it’s too late.

[CaleDeRoo]

Not wrong. The wife unit would love it for sure. But for me it just means I’ll be sweating even quicker. When it’s cold out you dress for cold. When you sit in a car dressed for cold and are immediately assaulted with heat wattage from every angle you over heat.

What makes it worse is the buttons for this frippery are buried in the touch screen so you have no idea if they are on until it’s too late.

I think you can make it a favorite so it's visible all the time, but a physical button would be nice.

[wap]

It doesn't factor in things like interest/prop taxes which are huge opportunity costs. That 50k in the stock market would have had a much higher yield.

Unless that $50K went into things like RKO Radio and Studebaker.

I'm still holding onto my Studebaker and Pony Express stocks. They're on the verge of a comeback.

[Huckleberry]

Unless that $50K went into things like RKO Radio and Studebaker.

I'm still holding onto my Studebaker and Pony Express stocks. They're on the verge of a comeback.

Psssh. Get with the times. Sell them junk stocks and pick up some Enron and AOL pronto. Those are the comeback kings.

[Apex]

I'm still holding onto my Studebaker and Pony Express stocks. They're on the verge of a comeback.

Psssh. Get with the times. Sell them junk stocks and pick up some Enron and AOL pronto. Those are the comeback kings.

I want to know how much AOL spent on those promo CDs...

[CaleDeRoo]

Psssh. Get with the times. Sell them junk stocks and pick up some Enron and AOL pronto. Those are the comeback kings.

I want to know how much AOL spent on those promo CDs...

Bruh when I worked at AOL (quit at the end of '17) the amount of still using AOL desktop was staggering.

[Apex]

I want to know how much AOL spent on those promo CDs...

Bruh when I worked at AOL (quit at the end of '17) the amount of still using AOL desktop was staggering.

[CaleDeRoo]

Bruh when I worked at AOL (quit at the end of '17) the amount of still using AOL desktop was staggering.

There was an entire support site in Canada dedicated to AOL desktop installation calls.

Edit: and I'm pretty sure one of the real high up programmers was flicking the bean while messaging us about how Chris Evans is the perfect Captain America. There were wine emojis and talks about the movie then silence for 20min. "My wine is gone and I'm beat I'm gonna go to bed I'll check in with you guys when I get to the office tomorrow". All on the company Slack

[CorvetteWaxer]

I want to know how much AOL spent on those promo CDs...

Bruh when I worked at AOL (quit at the end of '17) the amount of still using AOL desktop was staggering.

They existed in '17?

Shit, we reused their 3.5 floppy discs for years before CDs.... they were a joke back then.

[Johnny_P]

So nobody cares but since nobody asked....

The Chrysler Soho apartment on wheels isn't too terrible.

Good stereo with lots of bass and HD radio.
uconnect screen is alright.
Clear gauges, info screen is slow to load but whatever.
Rides awesome, soaks up everything you feel nothing in this.
Generally comfortable.
It's actually pretty difficult to care about anything at all while driving it.
Pretty bitchin' interior.
V6 / 9AT has good power

Every turn of the wheel is met with understeer.
Try to take off spiritedly from a stop light and its wheel hop, torque steer, and no traction city. Max would love it, smoke those tars. FWD, this would be an absolute nightmare in any snow/ice condition.
16 MPG
Transmission is autistic. It's rough on some shifts, clunks on downshifts, takes 2-3 seconds to downshift on the highway, throttle confuses it sometimes it does nothing sometimes it drops 4 gears, and occasionally if you're coasting and it decides to shift it will speed up the car. It's better than the schizophrenic one in the 2014 Cherokee I drove but not worlds better.
Brakes are awful.
Seat cushion is too short.
3,000 miles and the white leather steering wheel is already stained.
Why is everything buried in that damn touch screen?

Overall, meh. Good for people that don't care at all. Good overall for a family but the amount of front end plow at every speed is alarming.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

So nobody cares but since nobody asked....

The Chrysler Soho apartment on wheels isn't too terrible.

Good stereo with lots of bass and HD radio.
uconnect screen is alright.
Clear gauges, info screen is slow to load but whatever.
Rides awesome, soaks up everything you feel nothing in this.
Generally comfortable.
It's actually pretty difficult to care about anything at all while driving it.
Pretty bitchin' interior.
V6 / 9AT has good power

Every turn of the wheel is met with understeer.
Try to take off spiritedly from a stop light and its wheel hop, torque steer, and no traction city. Max would love it, smoke those tars. FWD, this would be an absolute nightmare in any snow/ice condition.
16 MPG
Transmission is autistic. It's rough on some shifts, clunks on downshifts, takes 2-3 seconds to downshift on the highway, throttle confuses it sometimes it does nothing sometimes it drops 4 gears, and occasionally if you're coasting and it decides to shift it will speed up the car. It's better than the schizophrenic one in the 2014 Cherokee I drove but not worlds better.
Brakes are awful.
Seat cushion is too short.
3,000 miles and the white leather steering wheel is already stained.
Why is everything buried in that damn touch screen?

Overall, meh. Good for people that don't care at all. Good overall for a family but the amount of front end plow at every speed is alarming.

This all sounds pretty accurate for a minivan IMO.

[max225]

So nobody cares but since nobody asked....

The Chrysler Soho apartment on wheels isn't too terrible.

Good stereo with lots of bass and HD radio.
uconnect screen is alright.
Clear gauges, info screen is slow to load but whatever.
Rides awesome, soaks up everything you feel nothing in this.
Generally comfortable.
It's actually pretty difficult to care about anything at all while driving it.
Pretty bitchin' interior.
V6 / 9AT has good power

Every turn of the wheel is met with understeer.
Try to take off spiritedly from a stop light and its wheel hop, torque steer, and no traction city. Max would love it, smoke those tars. FWD, this would be an absolute nightmare in any snow/ice condition.
16 MPG
Transmission is autistic. It's rough on some shifts, clunks on downshifts, takes 2-3 seconds to downshift on the highway, throttle confuses it sometimes it does nothing sometimes it drops 4 gears, and occasionally if you're coasting and it decides to shift it will speed up the car. It's better than the schizophrenic one in the 2014 Cherokee I drove but not worlds better.
Brakes are awful.
Seat cushion is too short.
3,000 miles and the white leather steering wheel is already stained.
Why is everything buried in that damn touch screen?

Overall, meh. Good for people that don't care at all. Good overall for a family but the amount of front end plow at every speed is alarming.

I wonder what the weight distribution is on that thing..70% front 30% rear, especially during braking... Terrifying when coupled with a Mount Everest center of gravity.

Overall it sounds really similar to a 2014/15 model or so I had ... the stow and go seating is insane, it turns the van into a giant apartment swallowing moving machine which is what we used it for.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

So nobody cares but since nobody asked....

The Chrysler Soho apartment on wheels isn't too terrible.

Good stereo with lots of bass and HD radio.
uconnect screen is alright.
Clear gauges, info screen is slow to load but whatever.
Rides awesome, soaks up everything you feel nothing in this.
Generally comfortable.
It's actually pretty difficult to care about anything at all while driving it.
Pretty bitchin' interior.
V6 / 9AT has good power

Every turn of the wheel is met with understeer.
Try to take off spiritedly from a stop light and its wheel hop, torque steer, and no traction city. Max would love it, smoke those tars. FWD, this would be an absolute nightmare in any snow/ice condition.
16 MPG
Transmission is autistic. It's rough on some shifts, clunks on downshifts, takes 2-3 seconds to downshift on the highway, throttle confuses it sometimes it does nothing sometimes it drops 4 gears, and occasionally if you're coasting and it decides to shift it will speed up the car. It's better than the schizophrenic one in the 2014 Cherokee I drove but not worlds better.
Brakes are awful.
Seat cushion is too short.
3,000 miles and the white leather steering wheel is already stained.
Why is everything buried in that damn touch screen?

Overall, meh. Good for people that don't care at all. Good overall for a family but the amount of front end plow at every speed is alarming.

I wonder what the weight distribution is on that thing..70% front 30% rear, especially during braking... Terrifying when coupled with a Mount Everest center of gravity.

Overall it sounds really similar to a 2014/15 model or so I had ... the stow and go seating is insane, it turns the van into a giant apartment swallowing moving machine which is what we used it for.

about driving dynamics in a fucking mobile apartment. Brakes need to be good, that's about it.

[max225]

I wonder what the weight distribution is on that thing..70% front 30% rear, especially during braking... Terrifying when coupled with a Mount Everest center of gravity.

Overall it sounds really similar to a 2014/15 model or so I had ... the stow and go seating is insane, it turns the van into a giant apartment swallowing moving machine which is what we used it for.

about driving dynamics in a fucking mobile apartment. Brakes need to be good, that's about it.

The way the 's drive them would make a Kamikaze pilot squirm.

[Johnny_P]

I wonder what the weight distribution is on that thing..70% front 30% rear, especially during braking... Terrifying when coupled with a Mount Everest center of gravity.

Overall it sounds really similar to a 2014/15 model or so I had ... the stow and go seating is insane, it turns the van into a giant apartment swallowing moving machine which is what we used it for.

about driving dynamics in a fucking mobile apartment. Brakes need to be good, that's about it.

It wants to plow off the road taking a ramp 5 over the yellow speed advisor sign. Truly horrific road manners.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

about driving dynamics in a fucking mobile apartment. Brakes need to be good, that's about it.

The way the 's drive them would make a Kamikaze pilot squirm.

I don't see how improved driving dynamics would improve that. Those people have nothing left to lose, so they drive with reckless abandon.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

about driving dynamics in a fucking mobile apartment. Brakes need to be good, that's about it.

It wants to plow off the road taking a ramp 5 over the yellow speed advisor sign. Truly horrific road manners.

Can't really go against physics. I can't do much over 5 over the advisor sign on most ramps in my JL or JT.