I need your ideas, I am attracting every idiot on the frwy...

I just got back from Southern California visiting my parents and friends (I used to live there before moving to amazing Redmond, Wa). I was really shocked how people drove down there...I was even mentioning to my friends here in Washington that people seem very angry in SoCal and the drivers are extremely aggressive and always pissed off. It was a scary and stressful driving experience down there. One thing I learned is that I will never want to move to SoCal again. I enjoy road trips and driving in general, but not in LA area...it was horrible dealing with such angry aggressive people down there.

SAMSUNG-SM-N900A ?

 

I've never used the "ignore" function because I figure even people I disagree with could teach me something.

I changed my opinion on that after (1) witnessing how many people almost hit my car as I'm cruising the right lane and (2) personally seeing the results of such reckless behavior..... a man and a woman who were "smushed" by their own engine on the I5. The newspaper said they were victims of a road rage idiot. Therefore it's time for the CHP to start observing & ticketing people who pass in the right (or left) gutter..... who display threatening gestures to other drivers..... who zip-zag through traffic (not sure if this is a crime in CA but it definitely is in MD and VA where signs warn people they will be ticketed).

 

I want a BMW: the straight-6 diesel (dons flame-retardant asbestos). Nice and smooth, yet powerful. There's a reason it won "best engine" award 4 times in 4 years.
Someone mentioned the Accord Hybrid.... I'd rather have the Civic or Insight hybrid because ~1000 pounds lighter == more nimble handling/faster acceleration. Also the Civic was upgraded to a lithium battery so no aging issues.

When I catch-up to the person, I like to beep my horn.

 

Wouldn't a stunner or can of mace be just as effective for self-defense?

 

No over 90% of the Leaf's pricetag goes to support foreign workers, technicians, and engineers.

 

It's primarily manufactured in Tennessee, including the battery.

 

Not always. Mace doesn't affect 10% of the population and some people can deal with a stunner, especially when you forget to charge it. Note: I'm not advocating one way or the other for guns, just stating that the above methods aren't always as effective.

 

Even if it came 100% from Yokohama instead of Smyrna Tennessee, a much larger chunk of the pricetag than that would stay in the U.S. for marketing, transport, administration, other overheads, and sales markup.

 

I thought the Leaf was foreign engineered and parts (shrug). If destination fee is $800 and the foreign car (Prius or Civic Hybrid for example) costs $25,000 then only 3% of the cost is used for U.S. shipping.

ALSO: this question was asked on Autoline... not about the leaf but cars in general. They said that most of the pricetag covers the cost of the engineering (the car, the factory, etc). So wherever the engineers are located and pulling the strings, that's where the money flows. That makes sense because engineers are paid 3-4 times more than a factory worker, so the engineers would be a major expense (perhaps The major expense).

 

This seems to be happening to me as well, any ideas?

 

Links? Lacking a link, I call it BS. Maybe this will prompt you to provide a reference so we can find what you left out.

That claim may well be true of numerous one-shot and very low volume government projects. But in high volume consumer products, that is a recipe for bankruptcy. So you might be right about GM and Chrysler , except for their high cost non-engineering labor contracts.

Where I grew up, in a different industry, engineering was closer to 10%, less than sales and marketing expenses. Raw parts cost, before assembly, was about 30%. Nowadays and in other industries, both those fractions are even smaller.

 

I think as long as you respect the passing lane on the highway nobody should really get pissed off at you. And if they do... I feel really sorry for them because obviously they have some serious life issues haha.

I am always checking my mirrors to ensure the "fast" crew can go by without delay but I am the type who understands sometimes people are in a hurry.

 

You can call it whatever you want, but I saw the Autoline After Hours video on youtube & heard the car journalists answer the viewer's question. They said most of a car's pricetag goes to the engineers & their home country. That's good enough, and it makes a lot of sense:

Labor is the main cost of any product & engineer labor (plus managerial/office labor) is 3-4 times more than factory labor, so most of the pricetag would return to the central office (Detroit for example).

Anyway:
Believe me or not, I honestly don't care. I'm not interested in digging through 100s of Autoline videos just to find a 3 minute Q&A session. (Perhaps if you pay me, like you pay a professor to teach you his knowledge..... Otherwise no. I don't teach/tutor for free.)

 

http://msl1.mit.edu/classes/esd123/vyas.pdf

 

I live in a suburb of Chicago. They drive like maniacs here too. It's not you or where you live. It's everywhere.

 

Haha, just "once a week"? I drive perhaps 10 - 20 mi / day (not a lot), and there're probably 2 to 5+ times each day that I get pointedly passed by another car, usually an SUV. They HAVE to do this, even when I'm driving 10-15 mph over the speed limit. It's like a pathological urge for them.

 

What have you got against idiots? W'eve got rights too, buddy...and feelings!

 

I drive in LA every day, so traffic is often an equalizer. That being said, on the open highway, I generally drive 5mph below he limit in the right lane. I know I'm driving slower than most folks, so I try to accommodate them entering/exiting as much as possible. Other than that, I keep a constant speed and stay put so I'm predictable, and I must say I don't have much trouble with other drivers.

On surface streets, I generally drive at or just below the limit, with moderate acceleration from stoplights. If someone is chomping on my bumper and can't pass, I simply pull over and let them go by.

In any case, I only pulse/glide if nobody's right behind me, because that's just rude to do to someone.

I realize that my driving is not typical of the general population, so it's only reasonable for me to accommodate them as best I can. Go with the flow, and all that. Sure some people still get annoyed, even my wife when she's riding along, but that's their problem, not mine. Chances are, they'll pass me in a moment and I'll never see them again, so why get worked up?
A few years ago, before I had kids and recognized the important things, I used to be the guy trying to push the slow drivers off the road, so I've BTDT.

SPH-L300 ?

 

You see your wife every day. I'm a bit surprised you drive 5 below the limit if it annoys her?When I'm on a single lane road, because there's no passing opportunity, I do the max speed posted on the sign. That eliminates the need to pullover and brake (waste of energy), and yet no other driver can say I'm too slow if I'm doing 45 or 55.

 

I live in a suburb of Chicago and I drive exactly like you. It's not easy to do. We have crazy drivers here as well.