Car Talk

[Lee49]

https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/2021/11/03/subaru-october-sales-down-semiconductor-shortage/6274555001/

It's the chip issue -  

 

"Subaru, like the rest of the auto industry, faces a severe shortage of semiconductor chips and other key components," Thomas Doll, the firm's president and CEO, said in a statement Tuesday.

 

[Cushi]

 

 

[Cushi]

Honda announces all new models will be electric after 2030… but only in China to start
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/electrek.co/2021/10/13/honda-announces-all-new-models-will-be-electric-after-2030-but-only-in-china-to-start/amp/

[Cushi]

2 hours ago, *Jack* said:

Honda announces all new models will be electric after 2030… but only in China to start
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/electrek.co/2021/10/13/honda-announces-all-new-models-will-be-electric-after-2030-but-only-in-china-to-start/amp/

Another similar article 

 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/14/22833997/toyota-ev-investment-lexus-concept-vehicles

[Cushi]

Warning: This is clean but other videos I saw of him contained profanity.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by *Jack*

[Cushi]

As if the chip shortage wasn’t bad enough…

 

https://www.autonews.com/retail/burnt-out-ship-carrying-4000-vws-porsches-audis-bentleys-and-lamborghinis-sinks-rough-seas

[Cushi]

Does anyone own a 7th generation Lexus ES 350 F Sport? I’m seriously considering getting a 2022. I’ve been communicating with a local dealership and test drove a 2021. We’re just waiting on a shipment of the color/interior combo I want to arrive. Didn’t have time to really get acquainted with the car so does anyone have a list of likes and dislikes about the car?

[Cushi]

18 minutes ago, *Jack* said:

7th generation Lexus ES 350 F Sport

I meant to add 2019-2022 Lexus ES 350 F Sport, with is the 7th generation.

[Suspended in Time]

57 minutes ago, *Jack* said:

Does anyone own a 7th generation Lexus ES 350 F Sport? I’m seriously considering getting a 2022. I’ve been communicating with a local dealership and test drove a 2021. We’re just waiting on a shipment of the color/interior combo I want to arrive. Didn’t have time to really get acquainted with the car so does anyone have a list of likes and dislikes about the car?

Not sure about the local situation in your area, but I'd hazard a guess that it would certainly be at the upper end of what a lot of the Brothers & Sisters can afford 🙂

[Cushi]

Just now, Suspended in Time said:

Not sure about the local situation in your area, but I'd hazard a guess that it would certainly be at the upper end of what a lot of the Brothers & Sisters can afford 🙂

Lexus vehicles are expensive but they aren’t super expensive. The majority of friends I know drive cars like Honda’s and Toyota’s but some drive Lexus vehicles too. Didn’t think they would be that rare among the friends. 

[Suspended in Time]

16 minutes ago, *Jack* said:

Lexus vehicles are expensive but they aren’t super expensive. The majority of friends I know drive cars like Honda’s and Toyota’s but some drive Lexus vehicles too. Didn’t think they would be that rare among the friends. 

Maybe not. Toyota does make fantastic vehicles both in the standard models and the high end ones. I guess we shouldn't forget that many of our Brothers and Sisters are simply not in a position to afford an updated model of a reliable and dependable car like that. I guess it all comes down to what the prevailing standard of living is in our particular region. What might seem particularly opulent to some could be commonplace to others.

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by Suspended in Time

[Cushi]

12 hours ago, Suspended in Time said:

Maybe not. Toyota does make fantastic vehicles both in the standard models and the high end ones. I guess we shouldn't forget that many of our Brothers and Sisters are simply not in a position to afford an updated model of a reliable and dependable car like that. I guess it all comes down to what the prevailing standard of living is in our particular region. What might seem particularly opulent to some could be commonplace to others.

 

I understand. Was just trying to get some non biased information about the car from the friends since I know I can trust them 🙂 

[Suspended in Time]

6 hours ago, *Jack* said:

I understand. Was just trying to get some non biased information about the car from the friends since I know I can trust them 🙂 

Probably the best people to ask. I've never actually spotted a Lexus in a car park at an Assembly or Kingdom Hall over here in Australia. The odd Merc, once even a Porsche, but that was about it.

[Old]

36 minutes ago, Suspended in Time said:

Probably the best people to ask. I've never actually spotted a Lexus in a car park at an Assembly or Kingdom Hall over here in Australia. The odd Merc, once even a Porsche, but that was about it.

A family moved to our congregation from the eastern part of the state. They had been asked by the CO to go where there was a greater need ie Bellevue, Washington (Think Microsoft country.) Their first time to our Kingdom Hall a brother drove in in a lexis and our new arrival said "Look here you can even drive a Lexis."

Where they came from it was  used Ford or Chevy country. The two Lincolns in the parking lot didn't seem to draw any comment.

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by Old

[Suspended in Time]

58 minutes ago, Old said:

The two Lincolns in the parking lot didn't seem to draw any comment.

 

We don't have Lincolns over here either. I'm starting to get an inferiority complex 😀

[Qapla]

While doing LDC Maintenance Training I went to Halls were sometimes the local vehicles ranged from luxury cars at one Hall to 4-wheel drive pickups at another.

 

It is not up to me to tell others what they should drive - and, thinking of today's WT - done of us should be critical of brand or style of vehicle.

 

 

[Suspended in Time]

2 minutes ago, Qapla said:

While doing LDC Maintenance Training I went to Halls were sometimes the local vehicles ranged from luxury cars at one Hall to 4-wheel drive pickups at another.

 

It is not up to me to tell others what they should drive - and, thinking of today's WT - done of us should be critical of brand or style of vehicle.

 

 

True. I had brand new Company Cars for many years as my main daily driver. I'd get a new one every 3 years. There was no signage on them, so I guess people could have well have judged me on appearances.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a well-paying job (as long as it doesn't take too much time away from our spiritual routine), or a decent car for that matter.

 

But at the same time we recognize that we have many Brothers and Sisters in much reduced circumstances, especially Pioneers. Would we want to make them feel bad in any way about the sacrifices they made? (Some of them have to pray hard to Jehovah every day that they will just get where they are going!) And of course we would not want to be a stumbling block to ones who may have a tendency towards envy.

 

As with most things we do in life, prayerful consideration never goes astray. We have the example and words of Jesus to look to as well.

 

At the end of the day though, our choice is our own, and nobody needs to be critical of it 🙂

 

[Qapla]

Many years ago, I knew a brother who worked for Nissan - at a corporate level, not a dealer. He was a top mechanic and headed up one of their mechanic training divisions. One of the things they did was randomly pull cars from stock and use them for teardown and training.

 

To do this, this brother would pick a vehicle to use for a while. He would drive it as his own for days, weeks or months and then it would go to the shop for a complete teardown.  They disassembled the entire car!

 

The thing is, sometimes he was driving the cheapest car they had - other times he was driving their most expensive. Sometimes he drove a car, other times he drove a truck.

 

I guess someone could have looked at what he drove and "found fault" - but it was his job to drive these cars.

 

He was an extremely talented mechanic and helped develop the diagnostic equipment that is used to read vehicle computers.

 

 

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, Suspended in Time said:

We don't have Lincolns over here either. I'm starting to get an inferiority complex 😀

Any Teslas, Hummers, Audi, Mercedes?

[Suspended in Time]

39 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Any Teslas, Hummers, Audi, Mercedes?

A few Mercs and Audis, yeah. I think my Uncle has one. Definitely no Hummers 😁  Not sure about Teslas, I've only noticed them becoming popular here over the last couple of years and we haven't been travelling to Assembly Halls or anything during that time.

 

[Cushi]

3 hours ago, Suspended in Time said:

Probably the best people to ask. I've never actually spotted a Lexus in a car park at an Assembly or Kingdom Hall over here in Australia. The odd Merc, once even a Porsche, but that was about it.

Maybe Lexus vehicles are more expensive where you live. I’ve seen plenty of friends drive new Lexus vehicles including my field service overseer and a pioneer. Where I live the friends don’t dive them as much as say a Camry or Accord, but I wouldn’t say they are uncommon either. I wouldn’t be drawing attention to myself with one.

[Suspended in Time]

7 minutes ago, *Jack* said:

Maybe Lexus vehicles are more expensive where you live. I’ve seen plenty of friends drive new Lexus vehicles including my field service overseer and a pioneer. Where I live the friends don’t dive them as much as say a Camry or Accord, but I wouldn’t say they are uncommon either. I wouldn’t be drawing attention to myself with one.

About 75 G's here for that model, which is, yeah, quite a bit 🙂  It's the same principle as dress and grooming and things like that - just go with what the prevailing standard is among brothers in your area.

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by Suspended in Time

[Cushi]

1 hour ago, Suspended in Time said:

True. I had brand new Company Cars for many years as my main daily driver. I'd get a new one every 3 years. There was no signage on them, so I guess people could have well have judged me on appearances.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a well-paying job (as long as it doesn't take too much time away from our spiritual routine), or a decent car for that matter.

 

But at the same time we recognize that we have many Brothers and Sisters in much reduced circumstances, especially Pioneers. Would we want to make them feel bad in any way about the sacrifices they made? (Some of them have to pray hard to Jehovah every day that they will just get where they are going!) And of course we would not want to be a stumbling block to ones who may have a tendency towards envy.

 

As with most things we do in life, prayerful consideration never goes astray. We have the example and words of Jesus to look to as well.

 

At the end of the day though, our choice is our own, and nobody needs to be critical of it 🙂

 

Jealousy is not something I personally struggle with. When people have nice things, financial prosperity, spiritual privileges, etc, I’m happy for them. But I know everyone is different. I try to keep in mind that some struggle with such feelings. In the area I live in, a Lexus wouldn’t draw as much attention as say a 100K car would. I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable driving a new Lexus to the hall since there’s quite a few with similarly priced cars. If I knew I would, I wouldn’t get it. 
 

By the way, when I went to Warwick bethel back in 2017. I saw a governing body member (I won’t say who) hop inside a brand new Lincoln Navigator that was parked outside. At the time they cost $64,000. I’m sure folks could have found fault with that but we all have the freedom to make decisions within good conscience.

[Cushi]

11 minutes ago, Suspended in Time said:

About 75 G's here for that model, which is, yeah, quite a bit 🙂  It's the same principle as dress and grooming and things like that - just go with what the prevailing standard is among brothers in your area.

 

That’s what I thought. A Lexus ES 350 doesn’t cost nearly that much here. Now if you were buying a Lexus LS that would be a different story. 
I know pioneer sister who’s husband bought her a 75K Tesla. She used it for the ministry and took it to the meetings. I guess her conscience allowed it.

[Old]

51 minutes ago, *Jack* said:

That’s what I thought. A Lexus ES 350 doesn’t cost nearly that much here. Now if you were buying a Lexus LS that would be a different story. 
I know pioneer sister who’s husband bought her a 75K Tesla. She used it for the ministry and took it to the meetings. I guess her conscience allowed it.

And why not?