Talk:2018-04-26 global

This is an awesome expedition and writeup!! I'm glad you made it through all the weather and then the mud. I am hitting myself that I didn't notice this one -- I live in Charlotte so would have been theoretically possible, though very hard to get off work that particular day. If you notice nearby globalhashes in the future feel free to ping me as I'm in Charlotte these days. -- OtherJack (talk) 19:52, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Congratulations on your 4th globalhash! A very thorough report also, but the only thing that left me wondering is the exact reason for renting a car despite you own one. Is the gas mileage of the rented car so much better that the difference covers the rental cost? Or does it seem more festive to drive a cleaned and polished car to the globalhash? Just wondering, Tilley (talk) 11:47, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi Tilley. I do own several vehicles. And believe it or not, my now main vehicle is a 2015 bicycle I built myself. I now ride more miles a year than I drive (My riding history). But, my powered vehicles are a 2001 Ford Ranger as my primary vehicle that has 325,000 miles(523,000km) on it, a 2003 Ford Windstar minivan with 130,000 miles(209,000km) on it and a 2003 Lexus ES 300 with 144,000 miles(231,000km) that I just finished putting a brand new to me 6 speed(U150e) transmission in. I do own two other Toyota Supra MKIII, both of which have the engines out of them for major engine repair.

But, since the truck and the van(vehicles I drive the most) has that many miles on them, I didn't want to needlessly put extra miles on them that I didn't have to. Not to say the truck isn't reliable at that many miles, just that I think I am extremely lucky to get that many miles out of the truck with general maintenance, and the occasional water pump replacement. Since the truck also only seats 2 people comfortable, it does have seat belts for a middle person but the manual transmission gear shift lever on the floor would be between the legs of the middle person in 2nd and 4th gears, so I use the van when I pick up my son from his mom. I really need it if for what ever reason his mom comes along too. So again, not wanting to put an extra 500 to 600 miles on the minivan when I need to depend on it is the reason for not taking the van.

Just last month I finished putting a newer transmission in the Lexus ES300. It came from a donor car that had 47,000 miles on it, so I'm not exactly sure of the reliability of the transmission. While the transmission was out of a vehicle, I should have had the clutch packs replaced to make it near new but I thought I would have the whole project of replacing the transmission in my garage done in 2 months or less. I could have done the clutch pack replacement myself, but this 6 speed is more complicated than I wanted to mess with, so I didn't. A repair shop would have wanted to replace everything, seals, bearings, worn gears, shafts for a cost more than I was willing to spend to have a new transmission, so I installed it as it was from the donor vehicle. It actually ended up taking 3 years to replace though, from transmission mounts needing replaced, the hydraulic damper not having the correct mount to match the newer vehicle frame, to having the wrong speedometer sensor and other small stuff like that to make it work in my car. So, not knowing the reliability of the newly installed transmission and only having 200 miles on the ES300 with the newer transmission the day before this global hash, it was not a gamble I wanted to take of the transmission failing in the middle of nowhere Alabama on a 500 to 600 mile journey.

So, to make a long story short, rental cars are cheap. Put the miles on someone else's car. A rental car also comes with free towing, a plus that I thought might come in handy in the middle of a forest. --NWoodruff (talk) 15:37, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Wow, an even more thorough answer to my carelessly put question! Renting makes perfect sense to me now. I did notice even before I asked that renting a car seems considerably cheaper in the USA than it is here in Finland. One factor to that is the taxation, I guess. We have quite high yearly tax on cars even if you don't drive them at all. You can decommision a vehicle from traffic use until further notice to avoid paying taxes, though. But that is not very practical for a car you drive like once a week (like my primary car), since the decommissioning has its own cost also. We also have a one-time tax on new vehicles when they are first bought. And all the cars need to have two sets of tires, summer and winter tires. And all those costs are embedded also into the rental vehicles.

Also, good luck with your hobby car projects! You seem like a real car enthusiastic! I actually also have a Ford Ranger, -04 model, but that is not the same as the "American" Ford Ranger, the car I own is manufactured in Thailand and sold in the states as "Mazda B2500". I use my "Ranger" to drive in the forest roads in wintertime and to haul firewood. It is featured also in couple of hashreports. The truck is decommissioned most of the time, because the yearly tax would be 700 euros (and that is actually cheap and owns to the fact that the truck was converted to a 2-seater in Finland despite having 4 seats coming from the factory. As a 2-seater, it becomes a "van", and when the new vehicle was sold, about 10000 euros of taxes were saved, and 500 euros more annually. Yep, we have one of the strangest car tax laws here in Finland). Tilley (talk) 17:57, 11 May 2018 (UTC)