I’ve gone back to individual stores for various shit. My motorcycle needs some rubber bushings for its gas tank mount. They usually run about $11 each from Honda, but Amazon wants $20 each. And that’s with Prime. I think I’m done paying for Prime at this point.

Then don’t get it.

If you must have it, find something equivalent, maybe a bit cheaper and older, that isn’t ad-supported.

I’d rather not, thanks.

Though I would enjoy watching him fellate a cactus.

I think the operative word is “slaves”.

See you just need to have inside information. There’s absolutely no way these rich assfucks aren’t trading on insider info.

Ah, pulling a Budd Dwyer, except be actually guilty.

Toyota hasn’t offered an update for our 2015 Highlander’s Entune system since 2017. I snag the map updates for cheap from eBay, but that’s about it. The system sucks so bad… My parents’ 2015 Camry has the same system and they don’t use the navigation at all, choosing Google Maps or whatever instead. I mean there is absolutely no reason why entering one address needs to be divided into multiple ambiguous fields over multiple screens, completely dependent on what region you select on the first screen, which may or may not be correct since it looks for exact matches and not a “general” area; and stopping the navigation should be “stop navigation”, not “delete destination” ffs. Garmin, TomTom, Magellan, etc. had this figured out 20 fucking years ago.

I get why Toyota likes to stick with “old but proven” tech, but that Entune system…jesus fucking christ what a dumpster fire.

Indeed.

That’s how my minivan is. It’s a 2008 Toyota Sienna with an Alpine ILX-407 and iDataLink Maestro RR for vehicle integration (i.e. steering wheel controls and OBD-II). Works great.

That happened to me, too. During covid pricing, I had a 1992 Ford Taurus that I absolutely loved (and hated, but that’s a different story), and got rear-ended on the freeway at the tail end of 2021. Wasn’t severe and the car was drivable, but insurance still totaled it. The kicker is that even though I only paid $1000 for the car, insurance gave me a whopping $4700.

I managed to snag my current 2008 Toyota Sienna for $4500 when most were going for $6-8k. It needed some work at first, but it’s a solid car and serves as our family hauler and handles multiple roadtrips a year like a boss (split custody, yay 🙄).

Absolutely not. The “I’d deal with it if I get [nice thing] for less” mindset is the entire reason we’re in this situation to begin with. Companies see that people will put up with it, realize data collection from that is where the real money is made, then it leaches into everything else.

Fuck ads entirely.

They wanted my email address “so they can get in touch with me if I don’t answer the phone.”

“Lol no”

Then walk out.

Where have I seen that before… Oh yes:

Journey exists for rental fleets.

Despite their reputation, the LX platform was serious value, offering stupid power for cheap. It had the “classic American muscle car” vibes, and responds nicely to modifications.

Chrysler Corporation (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram) was owned by Daimler (which also owned Mercedes-Benz) from 1998-2007, then operated on their own again (and spun off Ram from Dodge) until 2014 when they were acquired by Fiat, forming Fiat Chrysler Automotive (aka FCA). FCA and PSA (Peugeot) merged in 2021 to form Stellantis.

There you go.

Ask your doctor if Stellantis is right for you…

Often it’s controller remapping to resolve transmission or engine issues. Those are typically recalls. The software updates you’re thinking of are typically for the infotainment system, which gets data from the rest of the vehicle and controls any wireless connectivity (if equipped).

True, I guess my comment did sound a bit “not interesting” 😅

I think it’s a great development kit. I wish my Eufy robot vacuum had that level of tinker-ability. It’s already got googly eyes…

Yeah, but it didn’t have a vacuum. It was just a development thing.