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How important use synthetic oil instead regular one?

Besides oil quality, it's amazing how few people realize that "severe driving conditions" usually mean stop-and-go traffic everyday as part of the commute. If you're flying down the interstate at 60 every day for 20 minutes or so, you aren't really stressing the car much. But if you're stuck in...
- oleguy
- Post #35
- Nov 3, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Looking to get a 2015 Sienna

I will admit that the fuel economy (real-world testing, not the sticker) still seems to be about 10% better on the Odyssey. I'm actually a rather conservative driver when it comes to the throttle and brake, and do way more bumper-to-bumper than I'd prefer. However, I'm currently in a '99...
- oleguy
- Post #10
- Sep 25, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Looking to get a 2015 Sienna

Fair question. We might still do that (it's across the street from the Toyota dealer). My concern is that the Sedona and Odyssey tend to get similar ride and handling scores in various places, meaning that what I don't like about the Odyssey will be present in the Sedona. Plus the Sedona is...
- oleguy
- Post #8
- Sep 25, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Looking to get a 2015 Sienna

To me, free money is when I set up an account with a bank and they hand me $150 for doing so. This is just lending money for free... which still saves my wallet quite a bit over time, don't get me wrong. Nevertheless, Toyota (and Honda, to be fair) are both pretty much begging you to buy a new...
- oleguy
- Post #5
- Sep 21, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Looking to get a 2015 Sienna

Well, December might be a bit long. Besides no guarantee of the 0% for up to 60 months going past 10/6 (when the deal ends), the twins will arrive sometime before mid December. Plus, my '99 Intrepid is starting to really show its 195K miles. Two cracked coil springs, leaking struts, some...
- oleguy
- Post #4
- Sep 21, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Looking to get a 2015 Sienna

So after a few months of lazy research, a realization that my current car may leave me stranded on the side of the road has pushed me to finally get out and test drive new cars. It also helps that I am coming up quickly on the day in which our lives change with the arrival of twin boys. As...
- oleguy
- Thread
- Sep 21, 2015
- Replies: 10
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to buy a bigger car (for family)...not sure what to get...

I was the OP a few months ago after learning that I had not one, but two kids on the way at the end of the year. A bit of test driving and searching led us to the Sienna. It can tow more than a most crossovers, has a stowable jump seat for the second row, and the third row stows pretty...
- oleguy
- Post #54
- Sep 17, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Just wanted to restate my requirements, since they've changed/solidified since I first started this thread: Ability to tow a small boat and gear while still being loaded down with the family and a week's worth of stuff (many crossovers either discourage towing or set a very low weight)...
- oleguy
- Post #71
- Jun 11, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

So I think I've narrowed down my list to the following: 2013 or later Chevy Traverse 2014 or later Dodge Durango 2011 or later Toyota Sienna 2011 or later Honda Odyssey 2011 or later Mazda CX-9 The year cutoff is related to either the most recent generation, or in the case of the Traverse, a...
- oleguy
- Post #66
- Jun 10, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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So I built a new garden box last week...

So in our 4'x8' box, we divide it into 1'x1' squares and go from there. For tomatoes, we give then a 2'x2' plot, so we can get up to eight tomato plants in a single 4'x8' box. This year, we went with five tomatoes and filled out the box with six pepper plants, spaced in a zig-zag pattern in...
- oleguy
- Post #16
- Jun 10, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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garden irrigation ideas?

Honestly, we just use soaker hoses. The last few years we just swapped the faucet line from hose to hose, but it can take a while to do that. This year, I put a 4-port manifold on the end of the hose connected to the faucet and can get all three boxes at once. There are two different kinds of...
- oleguy
- Post #6
- Jun 9, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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So I built a new garden box last week...

To be fair, I was in a time crunch and was unable to make it to other local lumber yards. But they wanted $80 per 12' board of rough-cut cedar. Menards (where I ended up going) had the appearance board for $65 per 12' board, plus it was their 11% rebate weekend, so it was even cheaper. It's...
- oleguy
- Post #12
- Jun 9, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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Need to get a bigger car...

Okay, I will grant you this after more research. And for better or worse, the Durango often is in the best of lists from places like Car and Driver or Consumer Reports. Of course, the former is more concerned about things like handling and 0-60 speed and I've yet to find a place that seems to...
- oleguy
- Post #61
- Jun 9, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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So I built a new garden box last week...

Too all the folks who think that using going up to the second tier was pointless: I mostly agree. However, the plot of land my house was built on was subdivided from a larger plot that had been a number of things since the 1920s, none of which had been residential. The soil, if that's what...
- oleguy
- Post #8
- Jun 7, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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So I built a new garden box last week...

Oddly enough, the lumber yard that sold rough cut was $15 more per 12' section than the big box, and that was before the big box rebate. And I could have gone with Douglas Fir (the other untreated option in my area)... and maybe should next time given the condition of the box I built three...
- oleguy
- Post #7
- Jun 7, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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Need to get a bigger car...

I don't know if I can accept that. My uncle has had a few Durangos, and all he does it complain about it. He keeps getting them as, like you said, they have a niche that it fits very well. For him, it's living in a cabin for 6 months of the year that is accessible only by boat or a "road"...
- oleguy
- Post #54
- Jun 6, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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So I built a new garden box last week...

Made from untreated cedar 2x12s, with 4x4 posts in the corners. It cost me a fair amount of cash for both the wood and the fill, and I have two more boxes I need to replace over the next few seasons (you can see an old one to the left, with the electrical conduit trellis). So my question to...
- oleguy
- Thread
- Jun 6, 2015
- Replies: 16
- Forum: Home and Garden
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Electric mower & chain saw with same battery type

I just gave my mower a tune-up and it reminded me how much I hate gas engines in lawn tools. The lawn trimmer I got last summer had to be cordless electric, and I got a decent one from Ryobi. However it's only 18V and the Ryobi mowers are 40V, so I'm curious about cordless electric mowers as...
- oleguy
- Post #15
- Jun 6, 2015
- Forum: Home and Garden
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Buying power tools soon enough... Want one brand

While I realize that corded tools never run out of juice as long as you have a powered outlet handy, is there another reason you need one for backup? If "range anxiety" (not sure what it would be called in this case) is your concern, I was able to use a single Ryobi battery to drive 60 pilot...
- oleguy
- Post #35
- Jun 6, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Having always driven a FWD or RWD car (I had an old Explorer Sport in college, but the 4WD was busted), I haven't really encountered too many times where I've had problems, even living in the North. However, with a minivan or SUV, does AWD or 4WD make any real difference when considering...
- oleguy
- Post #50
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Buying power tools soon enough... Want one brand

I'll be the guy who asks how frequently or intensively will you be using these tools? I don't tend to use my power tools much, maybe a couple of times a month. So I went with a line that had a battery pack that crossed realms so when I used my summer lawn tools, I didn't need to have another...
- oleguy
- Post #31
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Continuing on the minivan theme.... and I don't need to get new here at all, but I would like to think I would keep the car for 10 years after purchase... Odyssey or Sienna?
- oleguy
- Post #45
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

I should also point out that I would like to make sure that the safety rating is high. I necessarily need all the fancy lane departure and back-up stuff... but the thing needs to be in the top of its class for crash and rollover ratings.
- oleguy
- Post #43
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Maybe a minivan isn't the worst idea. And I will say that in the last month of many trips to Home Depot to get things for the garden, my Dodge Intrepid's trunk and rear seats that barely fold down have been... irksome. I don't see those trips decreasing in future springs.
- oleguy
- Post #42
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

My wife has already ruled out strapping the carrier to the roof... (so have I.... just an obligatory and dated Mitt Romney joke).
- oleguy
- Post #41
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Seems hard to determine which of the various models allow towing. Some flip to not available on the spec sheet, but that's specifically referring to extra cooling to help with towing. So I assume they can all do 1500 or so without issue.
- oleguy
- Post #40
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

I'm not sure I can handle the concept of a minivan... and yes, getting 7" or more of ground clearance is nice because the "driveway" at my in-laws cabin is nothing more than a cleared strip of land from the dirt road to the front lawn. It's a bit bumpy and when our Focus is loaded, it scrapes...
- oleguy
- Post #35
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Resurrecting my old thread because I've had a change of mind in terms of requirements. While driving to work in traffic for the umpteenth time this year due to road construction everywhere, it occurred to me that this commute was going to last through fall 2016 and that might be the final straw...
- oleguy
- Post #31
- Jun 5, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

I'm beginning to wonder if the Forester is the red-headed stepchild of Subaru's lineup. Per the 2015 manual, it's rated for a 1,500 lbs towing capacity, full-stop. The Outback, as you noted, goes much higher, assuming your trailer has brakes. The problem is that the Outback as I would want it...
- oleguy
- Post #28
- May 11, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

I live in the north and both our families have cabins out on the lakes. This last summer we took our first long trip to one of the cabins with the Focus (a little over a week) and that car was packed full. Because the cost and selection of groceries is limited up there, we tend to pack our own...
- oleguy
- Post #25
- May 11, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Too many to respond to, so I'll just set it here and hope people see it. For the hybrid, I have no problem with that in concept. I have friends who have a Prius V something, and it seems to hold an okay amount of stuff, though not much more than the Focus we already have. The flat floor in...
- oleguy
- Post #16
- May 9, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

My uncle has kept his Durango going, against all odds. He's got it up in Canada 6 months of the year, taking a 3 mile route between the highway and his house that is a rough mining road that turns into a logging road that is then nothing more than two ruts in the forest. I should have also...
- oleguy
- Post #6
- May 9, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Not necessarily, though if I follow through on my intent to keep the car for its entire serviceable life, the fewer miles it has the better. The Focus we have now was purchased almost exactly two years ago as a used 2012 with 35K miles on it. With my wife's commute, its weekend around-town...
- oleguy
- Post #5
- May 9, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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Need to get a bigger car...

Edited: A few things have changed since I first posted... see my last comment on the subject on 6/5 I'm not a big car person. I tend to view cars as more of a necessity of adulthood rather than something to lust after. However, if I'm going to spend my hard-earned cash on something, I would...
- oleguy
- Thread
- May 8, 2015
- Replies: 76
- Forum: The Garage
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HTC One M9 hype thread

This, a thousand times. I was once a person who believed that digital cameras were on the way out if they were anything less than prosumer on up. But I have to say, I got my wife a Panasonic Lumix ZS30 for Christmas in 2013, and for $300, it took pictures that made cell phones look like...
- oleguy
- Post #178
- Mar 1, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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HTC One M9 hype thread

So, I didn't read all the thread, mainly starting at the point just before the launch event. Perhaps I am repeating what others might have said, but here's my two-cents. Yes, the M9 wasn't a gee-whiz uber-sexy phone that made all the other device makers hang their heads in shame and/or fire...
- oleguy
- Post #176
- Mar 1, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Today's Lesson: GTX 970 >> HD4850

There were two things that put off my total system upgrade after about Year 3: A whirlwind of life events that kept me from having the time or the funds to keep up with the new releases between 2010 and 2013. Getting married, buying a home, changing jobs, and other such things seemed to...
- oleguy
- Post #4
- Oct 23, 2014
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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Today's Lesson: GTX 970 >> HD4850

And no, that wasn't a typo. I rebuilt my five year-old machine around Christmas, but nothing really caught my eye when it came to GPUs and there seemed to a lot of bated breath over AMD's next generation part. So I waited. Then the AMD parts landed, and I was not really impressed. I also...
- oleguy
- Thread
- Oct 22, 2014
- Replies: 11
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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:Update: Bad things confirmed. ASUS GPU RMA started, heard bad things.

I'm pretty sure that Anandtech used to include RMA/Tech Support coverage as part of their motherboard reviews, probably back in the mid 2000s. If I recall, it didn't really reveal much, though there was criticism for companies that relied too heavily on automated responses or worse, only used...
- oleguy
- Post #105
- Oct 21, 2014
- Forum: Graphics Cards
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:Update: Bad things confirmed. ASUS GPU RMA started, heard bad things.

Don't they have supervisors you can speak to? Being a former call center wage slave, I hated it when people immediately asked for a supervisor, but the design of such hellholes is that only supervisors are the ones who can pull even the smallest of strings. Otherwise, you might want to...
- oleguy
- Post #95
- Oct 20, 2014
- Forum: Graphics Cards

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