I may be AWOL for a few weeks.

highslice said:
I think I see the problem. He bought a Toyota Pilot. He probably would have had a better experience with a Honda Pilot.:cool: Just bustin your chops.
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As well you should when I screw the pooch like that. I deserved it.

OK, after all the crap I wrote about the Terrain give up and looking for a new car, here are some pics of what the new baby looks like. 2019 Infiniti QX50. It's a lease return car that was sold at the dealer we bought it from (Infiniti on Camelback) and returned there at the end of the lease.

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It has 4WD, 4cyl turbo, and it's going to take me a month of Sundays to learn all the stuff it has to offer. I think I'll be spending the next few days in the owner's manual.
 
Gofirstclass said:
As well you should when I screw the pooch like that. I deserved it.

OK, after all the crap I wrote about the Terrain give up and looking for a new car, here are some pics of what the new baby looks like. 2019 Infiniti QX50. It's a lease return car that was sold at the dealer we bought it from (Infiniti on Camelback) and returned there at the end of the lease.

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It has 4WD, 4cyl turbo, and it's going to take me a month of Sundays to learn all the stuff it has to offer. I think I'll be spending the next few days in the owner's manual.
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Should have went with the Lincoln Aviator or Nautilus. (sorry I didn't get the chance to reply in time) Hope that Lexus is a CPO as the are some of they most expensive transmissions I do. Best of luck with the new ride.
 
techmitch said:
Should have went with the Lincoln Aviator or Nautilus. (sorry I didn't get the chance to reply in time) Hope that Lexus is a CPO as the are some of they most expensive transmissions I do. Best of luck with the new ride.
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What about Infinity transmissions? It is not my intention to be the brand police....
 
Nater Potater said:
Now, let's not be slamming Mike's choice of cars before he's had a chance to put some miles on it. He's had a hard-enough time of it already!
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Not slamming the man's decision at all. Just bummed I didn't get a chance to respond earlier and like I said, just hope it is a C.P.O vehicle.
 
It is a CPO vehicle. I saw the CARFAX report on it and it shows the car has been serviced on a regular basis, tires were just replaced, etc.

My son is the lead tech at a Chebbie dealer. He cautioned me about the trans issues but I guess I'll just have to take my chances with it. Being an old fart, I'm not a speed demon nor do I punch the gas when we pull away from a stop, so I'm hoping this will help me avoid any trans problems.

Our biggest issue so far is getting the dog to jump up into the car. He weighs about 85 pounds so it's not easy for us to pick him up and put him into the car. We'll just have to keep working with him.

Other than that, we're happy with the new rig. It's comfy and now that I'm learning what all the screen icons do and how to best utilize them it'll be easier to drive.
 
techmitch said:
Sorry, np. Yep, Infinity = Nissan, Lexus = Toyota. Same trans. in Toyota as Lexus and same trans. in Nissan as Infinity. All of which have a high failure rate and cost big $ for overhaul.
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I have owned 4 Nissans over the last 15 years or so and never had a single issue with any of them, transmission or otherwise. My neighbor bought a used Murano a few years ago that had the CVT. He had nothing but trouble with that transmission and it was rebuilt twice under warranty. Those transmissions were so bad that Nissan added warranty to 60K miles. He sells dental implants and relies on his car heavily. After the 2nd rebuild I told him it was probably time to move on. He bought a year old CPO Acura RDX.
 
highslice said:
I have owned 4 Nissans over the last 15 years or so and never had a single issue with any of them, transmission or otherwise. My neighbor bought a used Murano a few years ago that had the CVT. He had nothing but trouble with that transmission and it was rebuilt twice under warranty. Those transmissions were so bad that Nissan added warranty to 60K miles. He sells dental implants and relies on his car heavily. After the 2nd rebuild I told him it was probably time to move on. He bought a year old CPO Acura RDX.
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Yep, got 3 CVT's here now, all just barley out of extended warranty. Junk! Also 1 Tundra and 1 pathfinder, those are at a little over 100K miles.

Sorry for the highjack GFC.
 
No problem about the hijack.

Last night we went to the Cards vs Packers game and what a game it was.
Cards were behind until the 4th quarter. They came charging back and in the last 2 minutes they were driving towards a score. Murray threw the ball with about 20 seconds left to AJ Green in the end zone. I'm not sure what happened with the play but Green never turned around to catch what would have been the winning touchdown but the Packers had a guy right there who intercepted the ball. Game over, we lost and ended the 7-0 winning streak.

Here's the view from our seats. Even though we lost we had a good time and then after the game we walked to a brewery about 1/2 mile away and had dinner and drinks. A great ending to a fun evening.

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M
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Today we did something we hadn't done in a few years...and no, it wasn't THAT. We took a road trip out to a place called Castle Hot Springs Hotel and Resort. It's been a few years since we went out there and now I know why...the road out there is horrendous. Not exactly a 4WD trail, but not far from it. Most of the 20 mile trip was done at 10-15mph. When we hit a section where I could drive 20 I felt like I was really flying, and when we got to the reeeeeally bad sections I was down to 5mph. Didn't want to get dings on the new ride!

Castle Hot Springs used to be a very famous place known only to the star and the financially well off. It was one of John Wayne's places to hide away and where John Kennedy went to recuperate after his serious boating accident in PT109--the war, not the movie later. It was a spot where the Rockefellers, the Kennedys and that ilk could get away and not have to rub elbows with us common folk.

After that generation passed on the resort fell into disrepair and eventually closed. The last time we drove out there the place was a dump. Today, not so much. There's not much to show about the resort because it has a huge closed gate to keep us riff raff out. So we just drove on by and kept touring. I have about a dozen photos and one short videos. I'll post them in two posts so's y'all other commoners can see what the territory looks like.

Here's what the beginning of the road to the hotel looks like. Not bad, eh?
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This is about a mile-long stretch of single lane roadway. If you can call it that. We came upon a Jeep coming our way...they yielded, thankfully.
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Here's a view down onto the resort. Not much to see from any point because it's so seclusive.
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The whole area is an ATV and UTV mecca. I'd bet we passed 50 of them. This was one of many places where they parked their trucks.
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The large sign shows it's the entrance to Four Tanks Canyon. The small one says the speed limit is 12 1/2 mph and "no dust". Good to have a sense of humor.
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Sorry it's sideways. The scenery out here in this part of AZ is unbelievable. Even sideways.
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Well DUH!
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If you enlarge this pic you'll see 7 wild burros. The miners brought them out here and when mining dried up the miners departed and left their burros behind.
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Continued in next post.
 
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This is one of the better stretches of the roadway. On the really rough stretches I was too busy avoiding ruts and rocks to take pics.

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Just another shot of the terrain.
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and more
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These are the famous Sauguaro Cactus. They only grow in a limited elevation range so you don't see them up around the Grand Canyon area.
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By way of an FYI, GW just checked and the rooms at Castle Hot Springs are pretty reasonable...if you're a Gates or a Zuckerberg or an Elon Musk...they're $1750 per night. Chump change. Yeah RIGHT!
 

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A better place than Dripping Springs in New Mexico. It was a resort and later a sanitorium. When it was a resort, folks like Pancho Via and Pat Garett stayed there. William Bonney also stayed there.
 
Thanks Espos. I've enjoyed dragging all youse guys (and Pirate Lady :rolleyes:) along with us. The pics I've posted don't even begin to do justice to how pretty this area is. We only have 8 days left down here then it's the long (4day) slog home. I love it down here but it will be good to get back home and get settled in. We are getting new plank flooring put down in the whole condo in January so I'm going to have to fly back down here to supervise the project. I'll be here a week then hop a flight back home. THEN I can really settle in.

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Today we got tired of the rush of the past several days so we took an afternoon to head for the local pool. The pool was remodeled a couple of years ago and it would compare favorably with most luxury hotel pools. It boasts a "lazy river", an area for lap swimming, a deep area for diving, ADA access for people in wheel chairs and a wide ramp so people can walk into the pool rather than climb down a ladder or jump in.

Since this whole area is a 55+ Senior Community the entire design was centered around easy access for the seniors. We are members of the Sun City West Recreation Center and the pool comes with that membership. Also is a well equipped workout room, a 24 lane bowling alley, pool table room with about 36 full size pool tables, shuffleboard, dozens of tennis courts, pickleball courts, bocce ball, golf courses all over the place as well as puttee golf courses and dog parks for large and small dogs.

 
We're going down there in February for a few weeks. It'll be our first officially retired trip for both of us.
I'm thinking about taking my wife to Tombstone. If you've never been there, it's worth a trip in my opinion.
Looks like you're enjoying the warm Az sun, you had better soak it up because it's starting to get chilly here.
 
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