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I grew up in Vancouver, an utter poo poo hole. So when I got sick of it enough, I moved to Alberta and love it. My quality of life pretty much doubled once I crossed Jasper.
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Nov 24, 2016 22:41
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I've lived in four provinces so far, based on my driver's license history, and my quality of life has never been affected in a noticeable way by the price of gas. I don't drive for a living (I know some of the goons ITT do) and I've never regularly commuted by car, so my exposure to gas prices is relatively low. Don't spend 8 hours a day staring at a gas price sign, I guess.
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Nov 25, 2016 00:10
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ExecuDork posted:I've lived in four provinces so far, based on my driver's license history, and my quality of life has never been affected in a noticeable way by the price of gas. I don't drive for a living (I know some of the goons ITT do) and I've never regularly commuted by car, so my exposure to gas prices is relatively low. Problem is, where I am, price of gas highly affects the price of...everything. I'm not even that "remote" and I'm approximately 50-60% more expensive for food than my brother in Ottawa (I'm up near Timmins, Ontario). When gas jumps, my groceries jump within a week. When it drops, they slowly go back to 110% of what they were. We also put a lot of km on, and even with a somewhat fuel efficient vehicle, we notice the price fluctuations. To be fair, we get hosed on everything in Ontario - never live here (unless its Toronto-Ottawa-alongthatcorridor) because holy gently caress we just don't exist/matter to anyone. Rambling and bitching about my inferior Province in the AB thread :P
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Nov 25, 2016 03:04
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I'm trying to make some plans for next summer. Our work truck, Cheryl the F150, is most likely not going to be available for us to use (that story is slowly unfolding, with most people involved shrugging and saying "I dunno. Depends on how much money, I guess?"). Renting a vehicle is a strong possiblity, but a lot depends on some meetings that will happen in February. I'd like to be able to give my prof some useful options and estimated costs before she hits those meetings. I need a 1/2-ton 4x4 extended- or crew-cab pickup truck for 4 months (1 May to 31 August, approximately) in Seba Beach, Alberta - which is close enough to Edmonton that I'd probably get the truck there. Picking up / returning the vehicle anywhere in Alberta is fine for me. Enterprise, which the University of Waterloo has a contract with, would charge about $7200 for the summer. I think I can find a better price. I'll be phoning the companies that don't want me to do stuff online, but I've contacted Can-Ex Calmont Dlease (Lethbridge) Whitecap (Slave Lake General Motors dealership) Summit Central Alberta Rentals (Lacombe Ford dealership) Can anyone recommend any other companies, or have great ideas? Does anyone have any good / bad / wtf experiences with rented light-duty trucks?
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Nov 25, 2016 16:10
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Driving force used to lease hummer H1s. If they still do that it's worth whatever cost.
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Nov 25, 2016 16:15
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Buying a truck and selling it and the end of the summer an option?
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Nov 25, 2016 17:36
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Not really. Academic grants are complex and weird, if they were simpler I'd be working out how to buy a used truck ($25K). Vehicle purchases are handled by Central Stores here and I'm in the middle of a conversation with them - I've been passed off from the director to the vehicles person, and he hasn't replied to my emails yet. At the moment, our options are 1. Get Cheryl fixed. There's a budget in place for "maintenance" but there's a distinction made by the finance people between "maintenance" and "repairs" and it's difficult to pay for repairs from an account set up for maintenance. Yes, it's dumb. This would cost about $8000 (more-or-less the remaining value of that maintenance budget), possibly less if we can convince somebody else (another professor) to pay for part of that given they use / will use Cheryl themselves. 2. Rent a truck for the summer. So far I've had a few quotes come back, the lowest so far is about $6400, highest double that (LOL Whitecapmotors in Rocky Mountain House). 3. Buy a truck. The process here involves getting at least three quotes, and having some account details set up involving Prof's grants and internal-university money movements. Comedy option: We (Prof and me or maybe just her or maybe just me because lunacy) buy a cheap second-hand truck in good condition as private individuals, not through the university. Her husband has actually expressed some interest in this. Rainbows&Unicorns option: The University of Waterloo department of Mechanical Engineering runs the WATCar program, in which novice engineers play with cars and occassionally do something like swap an electric motor into something, or build a solar-powered car. I have the approval of Prof to contact them and mention her name, see if we can convince them to build us an electric worktruck or something. All4Naught option: at the meetings in February, the industry just hands Prof $40K and tells her to not bug them about this. Seems unlikely, the peatmoss industry isn't nearly as playful with their money as the oil industry has been. What we don't have is a pot of money of sufficient size to just buy a truck. I'm trying to get an answer yes/no from Central Stores about a payments plan, because Prof's budget could handle a monthly payment over several years, ideally to the University rather than to a dealership. I've gotten Central Stores to admit they "prefer not to buy used" but it is possible, which potentially saves about $10K vs. a new truck. Dealerships give education discounts on new vehicles, though, which changes the math a bit. Anyway, most of that is beyond this thread. This is a not-yet-urgent kind of side-project for me at the moment, an excuse to think about carscarscars while on the clock. EDIT: rereading what I wrote and I talked myself around to Slidebite's idea. Prof / me buys a truck in April, runs it all summer as a personal vehicle, and we sell it in September. Relevant to that, what would you shop for given my requirements? 4x4, seats at least 4, and decent fuel economy. Cheryl was/is a pig, her Triton 5.4L V8 sucked back more than $100 every 10 days or so. My understanding is newer vehicles have significantly better fuel economy. I think we've all seen the ads showing Ford / GM / Dodge competiting on this feature. This vehicle does't *need* to be a full-size "1/2 ton" truck, but I don't have any experience with "mid-size" trucks like the Tacoma or Chevy Colorado. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Nov 25, 2016 |
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Nov 25, 2016 19:52
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Cheryl would be the same as that lincoln i fixed up and i got a trans for $250 and had it put in for about $800. Even if you need legit sources, LKQ has the trans for $800 with 100k kms on it. Putting in a used trans would be "maintinence" Selling it as a running truck when you're done with it for the season would be more profitable than selling a broken truck. If you don't need a truck specifically, you can get a early 00s forrester or mid 00s trailblazer for a couple grand and lease it to the school for it's use.
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Nov 25, 2016 20:21
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 Maybe this happens more down South, but I didn't even know you could do this? Can you? edit: Oh right, winter test driving is a thing. Duh. It's 0 right now, so they're probably not getting their money's worth. odiv fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Nov 25, 2016 |
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Nov 25, 2016 21:41
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Could you actually buy a decent car/truck it in your name as a personal vehicle, get a mileage reimbursement/per diem rate for work mileage, and then sell it as your personal vehicle? You might potentially make money on it if you could do that. Furthermore, if your university gives you a T2200 tax form, you can write off some of the vehicle expenses. e: Tacos are great, super reliable and it wouldn't be impossible to get your money back out of it, but you need a true 4-door crew cab if you're going to even attempt 4 people. The standard club cab, which is 90% of what you see for sale, are basically useless for anything but small storage. slidebite fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Nov 25, 2016 |
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Nov 25, 2016 22:19
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slidebite posted:Could you actually buy a decent car/truck it in your name as a personal vehicle, get a mileage reimbursement/per diem rate for work mileage, and then sell it as your personal vehicle? Club-cab tacos sound like my Ranger - the back seat is completely silly (though I have put 4 people in mine). 4-doors would be absolutely what I'd be shopping for. Thanks! Powershift posted:Cheryl would be the same as that lincoln i fixed up and i got a trans for $250 and had it put in for about $800. Even if you need legit sources, LKQ has the trans for $800 with 100k kms on it. On that note, wanna flip a truck? As for non-trucks, I'm open to suggestions. One of the employees at the plant at Seba zips around in a Ford Escape without too many problems. An Escape would work well for 95% of what we do, it's just the rare days when we have to move all of our equipment around that it would be too small. The problem I'm having is figuring out the details of the 4WD/AWD systems of vehicles I've never driven - I want proper 4WD rather than AWD but 99% of the internet doesn't even know those are different things. Reviews of the Escape I've found include stupid anecdotes where people don't even know if their own personal vehicle ever sends power to all 4 wheels, never mind torque distributions. A reminder: these are typical conditions about 1/4 of the time.  Seba Beach Field Work August 2016 11 by Martin Brummell, on Flickr
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Nov 25, 2016 22:54
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Escapes are FWD biased full time AWD. Jeep liberties are about the same size but RWD based legit 4x4 with low range and poo poo, but they're largely junk. 160k km trailblazers only go for about 3 grand at auction and they can get some decent mileage on them, that would be your best 4 seat 4x4 bang for the buck if you don't need a truck.
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Nov 25, 2016 23:10
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I can't remember what your arrangement is with the uni. Are you under contract or an employee ? If the latter, can you not just politely tell them to call you once they figure their poo poo out ?
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Nov 26, 2016 22:15
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Try the companies that rent to business long term: Driving Force, Penske, United rentals and smaller ones. Contact UofA engineering and geo departments to see who they use for field work vehicles.
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Nov 26, 2016 22:27
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Or just do what everyone else in this fuckin province does and steal one.
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Nov 26, 2016 22:29
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If I had the insurance arranged I'd just rent you my Avalanche
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Nov 26, 2016 22:36
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Turo is legal in Alberta if you're with Intact. Just sayin'.
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Nov 26, 2016 22:57
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jonathan posted:I can't remember what your arrangement is with the uni. Are you under contract or an employee ? If the latter, can you not just politely tell them to call you once they figure their poo poo out ? My Prof is an Associate Professor (i.e. tenured) at the University of Waterloo. But she moved to Waterloo a couple of years ago from the University of Calgary and she still has Adjunct Professor status at U of C. That means she has some money in some funds at U of C, which she's been draining one-by-one to simplify things but the last remaining one is that maintenance budget I mentioned. I have no official status at U of C at all. Nobody at either university is going to solve the problem of "What vehicle do we use for field work in summer 2017?" for us. My Prof has to figure that out herself, and she's asked me to help because she knows I'm more enthusiastic and interested in all things car-related than anybody else in our lab group. Also, my career plans (as much as a gambling problem can be considered "plans") are to eventually have a job very much like hers - I want to be a professor. The academic career path is a mess, yet here I am. In this case, what that (ridiculous) ambition on my part means is I have a chance to learn as much as I can about something that will be a part of my future job - dealing with Central Stores office of Procurement and/or negotiating long-term vehicle rentals is something that any prof at any Canadian university (and probably in most other countries, too) will need to do. The details are different, like some universities have policies that make it extraordinarily difficult to purchase a second-hand vehicle, others are merely convoluted. This week I applied for 2 jobs at 2 other universities, and discussed with my Prof an apparently-successful but not yet confirmed grant (there's some paperwork on other peoples' desks that still needs a few signatures) that my name is on that would pay me for at least one more year. Beyond that, who knows? That's why part of my job description is "find another job". 'Tis the season, I'll be sending out at least one more application next week and a few more following that. Powershift posted:Escapes are FWD biased full time AWD. iv46vi posted:Try the companies that rent to business long term: Driving Force, Penske, United rentals and smaller ones. Contact UofA engineering and geo departments to see who they use for field work vehicles. I know a few people at U of A, I've never asked them but they probably buy their work trucks through U of A Central Stores or their Departments. But they're always nice people to talk to in any case, they might have some good advice. Thanks! DrakeriderCa posted:If I had the insurance arranged I'd just rent you my Avalanche
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Nov 26, 2016 23:01
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Not on a daily basis but now that you mention it, I would need it for a few weekends to tow our trailer for camping trips. Probably wouldn't work, although it's a shame to miss out on a few thousand dollars in rental revenue.
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Nov 26, 2016 23:25
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McTinkerson posted:Turo is legal in Alberta if you're with Intact. If you're with Intact you'd pretty much need Turo to not be put out of house and home because of how expensive they are. I mean they wanted $3700/year for the same coverage that TD offered me for less than $1200.
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Nov 27, 2016 05:21
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That's so weird to me. I'm with Novex, who are apparently a subsidiary of Intact and our rate was way lower than anything from TD, RBC, and any of the other brokers we talked to.
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Nov 27, 2016 10:16
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I was with TD/Moleche Monex for years until I did a spot-check with a renewal coming up and I ended up going RBC. It was literally, with no exaggeration, half.
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Nov 27, 2016 17:31
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Insurance is the biggest scam going and we're all suckers for not being in on it
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Nov 28, 2016 06:20
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DrakeriderCa posted:Insurance is the biggest scam going and we're all suckers for not being in on it 1500 is, sort of, and he's still getting hosed just like the rest of us. 
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Nov 28, 2016 08:09
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Ya I don't think too highly of the industry I work in, and sadly I'm not one of the leeches that gets paid out the rear end to do absolutely nothing.
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Nov 28, 2016 15:17
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'I was taken advantage of': More Gallery of Fine Cars customers come forward with complaints Time to see how many more pop up. Unironically, are any of the used/independent dealers in AB actually good?
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Nov 28, 2016 21:48
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Wistful of Dollars posted:'I was taken advantage of': More Gallery of Fine Cars customers come forward with complaints They've been scamming people for well over a decade. http://www.beyond.ca/gallery-of-fine-cars-threatens-beyondca/186.html http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?threadid=332296 It's believed they roll back odometers and sue anybody who suggests it.
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Nov 28, 2016 22:01
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Wistful of Dollars posted:Unironically, are any of the used/independent dealers in AB actually good? If I am looking for a used car (or even just browsing), I filter out all the dealer ads right from the get-go.
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Nov 28, 2016 22:06
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slidebite posted:There have been rumours of decent or even ethical individual salespeople, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are just that, unfounded rumours. So my answer is no. I don't want to tar them all with the same brush but God drat it, I can't help doing so. I can't bring myself to trust any of them.
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Nov 28, 2016 22:10
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slidebite posted:There have been rumours of decent or even ethical individual salespeople, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are just that, unfounded rumours. So my answer is no. I honestly think people just go through these places because they don't have the cash for a car in the first place and need to finance it. Nobody in their right mind would actually trust what a used car salesman tells you about a car.
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Nov 28, 2016 22:21
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A lot must be, but unless you just declared bankruptcy and are completely financially toxic, anyone who gets financing at the used car dealership is almost certainly financially illiterate.Wistful of Dollars posted:I don't want to tar them all with the same brush but God drat it, I can't help doing so. I can't bring myself to trust any of them.
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Nov 29, 2016 01:44
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slidebite posted:A lot must be, but unless you just declared bankruptcy and are completely financially toxic, anyone who gets financing at the used car dealership is almost certainly financially illiterate. GoFC will actually refuse to do cash deals. It's finance-only with them.
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Nov 29, 2016 01:53
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No red flags there at all! Holy poo poo.
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Nov 29, 2016 01:53
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i saw it coming and it still got me. http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/strathcona-county/turbo-and-methanol-monte-carlo/1220060599?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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Nov 29, 2016 02:09
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Alright, which one of you lot did I see driving around with the "9/11 was an inside job - infowars.com" sticker in your rear window. 
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Nov 29, 2016 05:09
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Wistful of Dollars posted:Alright, which one of you lot did I see driving around with the "9/11 was an inside job - infowars.com" sticker in your rear window. Mine is the one with the stick figure family with a mom, dad and four children with little halos over their heads.
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Nov 29, 2016 05:27
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I'm the one with "my life" in text, inside a giant goatse anus vinyl wrap on a k car.
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Nov 29, 2016 05:31
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Mine is a stick figure lady with ninety stick figure cats.
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Nov 29, 2016 16:41
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My first car had one that said "Where the heck is Forestburg" on it.
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Nov 29, 2016 17:04
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Stick figures? Amateurs. I ride to Valhalla shiny & chrome.
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Nov 29, 2016 17:13
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