Author Topic: My New Car : Yehe Ratzon (May it be His will) (Read 3405 times)

muman613 · « **on:** January 13, 2015, 12:52:51 AM »

Shalom,

Anyone who read my Torah thread knows that I have been having car issues for the last week. My 2007 Mustang GT engine just became worthless due to a broken cam shaft. I have been scrambling (with a rental car for) since last Wednesday to obtain a new car. Many of the regular readers know that I am 'partial' to Mustangs and have driven them since 2003 (approx 12 years). I started with a 6 cyl red stang, moved up to a metallic green Mustang GT which got totalled in an accident in 2009 and B"H the other driver was responsible and his insurance paid almost 80% of the value of the car and I got a Charcoal Black customized Mustang GT which I drove until last week. I am currently Mustang-less because I just sold the car at a great loss to my local mechanic (who wants to rebuild it to give to his daughter).

Meanwhile I contacted my Ford dealer (which I have establised a 'relationship' with) and am seriously considering getting the 2015 Ford Mustang 4-Cyl 2.3L EcoBoost. This car really looks cool (and hot too). I am getting a dark metallic blue stang and the new body style is smooth and it incorporates traditional mustang lines and features.

Here is a video on the new Ecoboost 4-cyl. Which is an inline 4 with a turbocharger.

What is freaking me out is that the 4cyl engine has more horsepower than the 6 cyl engine. The EcoBoost does 310HP which is pretty impressive for an engine which claims to do 32MPG on the highway.

The dashboard on the new Mustang is very impressive, and makes a computer geek like me flashback to the 80s when KITT was terrorizing the tarmac.

muman613 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:12:20 AM »

As I am turning 50 (same age as the Mustang) I realize that many younger readers may not even get my KITT reference in the previous post. KITT was the name of the intelligent car in the TV series 'Knight Rider' which inspired so many automotive engineers to add computers to cars. It was 1982 when Knight Rider was on TV...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWmr4h7whAw

muman613 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:27:01 AM »

muman613 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:36:56 AM »

Wow, I had heard that they used a Mustang Cobra in the last Knight Rider movie... It looks pretty cool, maybe I'll watch it...

I test-drove a Cobra 2 years ago... Here is the pic I took of it...

muman613 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:46:36 AM »

The other night when I learned that my car was beyond my ability to save I thought of this sad Matisyahu song. I don't know exactly why but I seem to cry every time I listen to this.

muman613 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2015, 01:53:05 AM »

I'm such a Mustang nut I have model cars on my bookshelf at work...

muman613 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2015, 02:00:35 AM »

The saddest image of them all... On the 1st day after I bought the Black GT (Dec 2009)...

muman613 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2015, 02:08:24 AM »

Oh the memories...

1st day at work:

In my driveway:

and 'the end':

muman613 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2015, 02:12:35 AM »

I hope I'm not 'beating a dead horse' with these posts...

angryChineseKahanist · « **Reply #9 on:** January 13, 2015, 09:01:31 AM »

awesome.
but you'll still be going home at 0 to 2 mph.
I drive an outdated used subcompact with no hub caps and scratched paint.

muman613 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2015, 02:08:54 AM »

Baruch Hashem ACK, Baruch Hashem...

I thank G-d that I do not have to drive in traffic on my commute to work. Most of it is on the freeway, and since I have such a long drive they let me come in by 11... I leave at 10 and miss the traffic... We are moving to a new building in a few months though and there will be a bit more driving on side-streets which are known to have traffic...

Dr. Dan · « **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2015, 10:30:34 AM »

wow..mustangs don't last very long.. 2007?!

muman613 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2015, 04:47:08 PM »

Quote from: Dr. Dan on January 14, 2015, 10:30:34 AM

wow..mustangs don't last very long.. 2007?!

I drive 30,000 miles a year.... And I am not light on the pedal either.

My mechanic is going to replace the engine ($3000) and sell the car to his daughter. I didn't have the time or the patience to go through with that repair though...

angryChineseKahanist · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2015, 11:56:57 PM »

yes my commute sucks. I drive 3 miles in one hour. Not an exaggeration. Look up Newark, NJ on google maps with traffic checked.

Yerusha · « **Reply #14 on:** January 15, 2015, 12:11:42 AM »

"A man who does NOT possess a car does not know how great is his good fortune!" (Rabbi Avigdor Miller)

muman613 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2015, 01:09:23 AM »

Meaning no disrespect for Rabbi Miller, I doubt he has ever driven in a very nice car, or ever owned one.

While the cost of maintaining a car is immense (I just did a cash flow analysis and I am putting a good deal into car costs, including car payment, insurance, gas, and monthly maintenance) the pleasure gained from driving a nice vehicle is commensurate. I have been going through a lot of mental processes trying to justify the cost of such a nice car, and it boils down to an axiom my father told me when I first moved in to live with him in Los Angeles.

"If you are going to work hard you may as well enjoy the ride in the car to work" and "It's not what you know, but what you drive, in Los Angeles".

I testify that when I drove my last car I would constantly (several times a week) receive compliments and blessings from people walking by as I was filling up with gas, or parking at a shopping center.

It is because of this that I often think of the "Ayin Hara" and I make sure to thank and bless anyone who compliments or blesses me.

muman613 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2015, 01:22:17 AM »

When I moved in to live with my dad in 1984 (the year of the Los Angeles Summer Olympics) he had a 1984 Nissan 300Z sports-car. The Nissan 300Z was the first car with a 'Digital Dashboard' which was very fancy in those days. This Nissan is one of the cars which was definitely influenced by KITT car from the TV show. It even had a voice which told you to close the door (the annoying 'The door is a jar' message).

Many years later after I moved to Northern California I ended up buying a used 300Z. My dads was red but mine is silver, and mine has the T-tops)... I still have the car in my driveway though it requires a ton of work to get it running again. But for the most part it is in operable condition.

Here are some old pictures of it...

It is a 'collectors' car now and every few months people knock on our door wanting to buy it.. But I don't want to let it go...

Here is what it's digital dash looks like..

This is not my car, but it looks exactly like it...

Dr. Dan · « **Reply #17 on:** January 15, 2015, 09:28:59 AM »

Quote from: muman613 on January 14, 2015, 04:47:08 PM

I drive 30,000 miles a year.... And I am not light on the pedal either.

My mechanic is going to replace the engine ($3000) and sell the car to his daughter. I didn't have the time or the patience to go through with that repair though...

So you drive from SF to LA?

muman613 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2015, 01:39:32 AM »

Quote from: Dr. Dan on January 15, 2015, 09:28:59 AM

So you drive from SF to LA?

Shalom Dr. Dan,

No, actually I commute every day from North Bay to South Bay (San Jose) which is about 140 miles a day. That is 700 miles per week, which is approx 3010 miles per month, which is about 36,120 miles a year.

muman613 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2015, 02:02:32 AM »

Spoke with my rabbi tonight about my car...

He had one comment, and a joke for me...

Comment : Nu? You like the noise?

Joke:

Jew to an Orthodox rabbi : Should I say the Shechianu prayer on my brand new Mustang?

Orthodox Rabbi : What is a Mustang?

Jew to a Conservative rabbi : Should I say the Shechianu prayer on my brand new Mustang?

Conservative Rabbi : Let me think about it....

Jew to a Reform rabbi : Should I say the Shechianu prayer on my brand new Mustang?

Reform Rabbi : What is Shechianu?

muman613 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 16, 2015, 02:04:44 AM »

I cannot believe the 2015 2.3L 4 cyl does 310 HP while this GT only did 280HP..

Here is the 1968 movie which made the Bullit GT mustang a hit...

muman613 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 17, 2015, 09:31:12 PM »

I can't wait till Sunday morning when I pick it up... Hope to post a picture soon..

Im thinking about going up to the Headlands and taking some shots of the car against the SF skyline.

This link is approximately where I usually park.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.827264,-122.499148,3a,52.5y,118.5h,76.63t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMywuiwiR1r4fLYz4w6hS1w!2e0

Took this shot of the view many years ago.

muman613 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 18, 2015, 10:15:17 PM »

The car has been acquired... Here are the 1st images...

I hope I can avoid the perils which Kayin (Cain) faced (His name means 'acquisition')..

Quote

The name Cain comes from the same root as kinyan, meaning "acquisition," as Chava, Cains mother, said "I have acquired a man with G-d." (Genesis 4:1) In Jewish thought, acquisition is synonymous with existence. We talk of G-d "acquiring Heaven and Earth." G-ds "acquisition" was the action by which he brought Heaven and Earth into existence.[/quite]
http://ohr.edu/1111

Aces High · « **Reply #23 on:** January 19, 2015, 07:50:01 AM »

I'm saving for the 2015 Mustang Gt. 435 horse power and that V8 rumble.