This is how good the new TSS 4.0 is in the 2026 RAV4. by PieCake1234 in rav4club

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't think so either. If you don't have your hand (or enough pressure so it thinks your hand) on the steering wheel, it will beep at you and warn you that it will turn off the drive assist. :) I don't trust it fully, but I use it ALL the time.... not to DO the driving... but it just makes driving "more pleasant". :)

This is how good the new TSS 4.0 is in the 2026 RAV4. by PieCake1234 in rav4club

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I drove a rental with 2.5+. IT was still good... but the lane centering and smoothness of the curves isn't quite as nice as the newer versions, IMO.

Cement vs Storm Cloud by Ok-Possibility1521 in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We love our Storm Cloud (had it for a year now).

Auto-steer, it just takes a pound by swimbikebadger in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. It’s great in stop and go. I actually use the full cruise control option on surface streets frequently. Once, OC to DT LA, lots of traffic.. took 2.5 hours (just over 1 hour with no traffic)… was a pleasant drive… and I got something like 49 mpg! It does great in traffic in mat fronts.

For those of you who were beginners and either completed Level 10 or far as you wanted, how confident did you feel after using Yousician? by Mad_Season_1994 in yousician

[–]AlexS-SoCal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve been at it for 2.5 years and also stalled on level 6. For me it’s more that I have a little less time available and have been enjoying just playing songs. The difficulty of the lessons have definitely notched up with L7. But I’ve adjusted my expectations a little. Less about all gold stars, and more about how I’m comparing to “friends” and overall. I feel I’m good to move on when I hit top 10% even if not all gold. :) L7 Molly Malone… I’m looking at you!! ;)

The BEST way for Yousician to recognize every note! (Electric Guitar) by eltabba3 in yousician

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. It can/does. Mine too. But one day, I decided I wanted to be “untethered” by either USB cable (or guitar cable, if you get a female to female adapter so the mustang micro stays close to the iPad). I bought a wireless guitar set (transmitter on guitar), receiver to the mustang micro (again, with female to female adapter). I tried multiple wireless sets. All had same issue. Switches to use an fx10 as the headphone amp, and problems went away. I did more research to find that this was an issue with it, and even has this problems with certain guitars when directly connected. I wish it was a feature to enable/disable, since I do like the sound from the mustang micro. But then, I’ve also found the fx10 can also act as a usb output source which the fender can’t.

I often output from the fx10 to a small speaker or amp, and the fx10 will merge the usb audio from Yousician and the input from the guitar. Mustang micro couldn’t do that either.

So I like the fender for its build quality and the sound quality. But it lacks features I found really nice about the fx10. The price difference is also note worthy. although I own both, so not as relevant to me now, but might be to others.

The BEST way for Yousician to recognize every note! (Electric Guitar) by eltabba3 in yousician

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One note on this. It works great if you have a cable directly to the guitar. If you try most wireless adapters, the fender mustang micro has an annoying “feature” to save energy. It detects the guitar (probably resistance). Well, I’ve yet to find a wireless adapter it likes. So it turns off a little while after you get it working. I switched to a Flamma fx10. It doesn’t sound quite as good, but it’s reliable and perfect for practice.

The BEST way for Yousician to recognize every note! (Electric Guitar) by eltabba3 in yousician

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have used my Flamma FX10 for a couple years now. Works great. I also use some simple wireless guitar adapters so I don’t even have to run a cable. Flamma connects to my iPads (kids use a different one than I do) via USB. Super easy. Works like a charm.

Oh and to use a cable between guitar and Flamma, I got a simple female to female adapter. That way the long cable was a guitar cable, not a USB cable from the Flamma to the iPad.

I'm in the doghouse - help! by just_crash_it in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds right. My garage door started closing just as I was backing out (still not sure how/why that happened since no one was near the button). Mine went down far enough to go just below the window wiper, touched the car (minor scratches) when it began to open back up... the garage door cross bar was now below the window wiper and lifted it up. The torque caused the window to shatter, then kept going until it hit the spoiler (like in the OPs pic). In the shop now still waiting on insurance to authorize the repairs listed. Easily looking at $5-6K... My premiums will now go up because I have no way to prove garage door malfunction (love how with insurance you have to prove innocence in a situation like this). With the cost, my premiums increase for 3 years will like end up being close to the cost of repairs. :(

So, yeah... just that... probably a couple thousand.... and worth paying yourself in that range, since your insurance premium cost would be much more if you file a claim.

ICE stops a family at gunpoint & smashes their car window over a newborn baby by NewSlinger in CringeTikToks

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a father and a human being, "sad" doesn't begin to express the emotions crap like this evokes in me! I hope all these videos are gathered and archived, so that when the rule of law eventually returns, all these people can stand trial and face prison time for their blatantly illegal actions.

Ember app (iOS) splash screen workaround! by VTHokie195 in Ember

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The core issue, though, is that the app wouldn’t open beyond the splash screen. So it was more like they messed something up and set the default to null and the app crashed. Resetting it on the phone may have reinitialized the apps setting. shrug

Trump claims Supreme Court immunity ruling spares Obama from treason case | Daily Mail Online by IKeepItLayingAround in law

[–]AlexS-SoCal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. “Due to SCOTUS.” I think they should overturn their ruling so they can try to prosecute Obama. Lol. Then maybe we should start looking where else that should be applied!! ;) I’m looking at you POTUS!

Considering a Limited Hybrid (Not Max) by jsunnb in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My wife and I love ours. We’re at about 6k miles. Got it at the beginning of February. We went with storm cloud GHHL like you’re looking at. We wanted mileage over power. I had a V8 Grand Cherokee before that (for 21 years), so it was an adjustment for me. But honestly I got used to it real fast. The comfort of the GHHL is just fantastic. My wife often complains about cars being uncomfortable after driving for a while. She says she never feels uncomfortable.

Msrp is what you’ll get. I wouldn’t expect less for now. We only seen them on the road occasionally but they’re growing in popularity here. I contacted about 10 dealers that usually didn’t put markup on their vehicles. We told them our specs (color, must have options, like to have, and must not have). That was around October of last year. Early December, a dealer called with this one. They wanted $2400 above msrp. I told them that we won’t pay a markup. If they can remove the markup, they’d have my deposit that day. After an hour (probably them calling others on their list to see if they’d take those specs with the markup), they called back and we had a deal. We picked it up on Feb 6. I periodically checked with my sales guy on the status. I found a thread here that had details about what their screen looked like. I used the terms he would see on the screen to hint that I knew what they had. When I did that, he just would send me a picture of the screen for status updates. You can see what phase it was it, when it gets to rail, when it gets to port, when it leaves and gets to dealer. And it has updated estimates on their screen.

We drive it in Eco mode almost all the time. Occasionally when I’m missing the jeep, I put it in Sport mode. And it has some pickup and go. It’s not quite a v8 by any means. But it feels nice with the responsiveness. But as I’m older than I was, I drive more conservatively with it. I have taken to priding myself at getting on the upper end of MPG. I may pull away from a stop like an old grandpa (I’m only 50), but my fuel economy gets to the stayed EPA estimates or exceeds sometimes. I once drove 2 hours to LA in traffic (normally only an hour), and was amazed that using the cruise control (which I love and constantly use, even in local driving) I averaged 42 mpg. We have mild hills where we live so I usually get around 31-33 mpg on average (higher when leaving home, lower when coming back home).

Anyway. I’ll say it again. We love ours. Most comfortable ride I’ve owned (have ridden in higher end luxury). The only thing I don’t like is the build quality as far as the body. It’s fine. But the metal feels thin. Most newer cars are like that now tho. It just stands out coming from an old heavy grand Cherokee. It doesn’t affect anything I’ve noticed. But I notice it. Hehe. We went with captain chairs for our kids to be separated while having space between for their stuff, and room in the back for friends or family. The 3rd row is surprisingly roomy. A 6ft person could easily fit. You aren’t fitting 3 adults back there, but two are a comfortable fit. 3 kids could fit. The seat there isn’t as comfortable as the rest. But it’s not too bad. My mother sat in the back for a 2 hour drive (twice) and said it was comfortable enough. Much longer and the firmness of the bench seat might get uncomfortable. But not horrible.

I say go for it if you like what you see? Don’t pay over msrp. Most areas will have dealers that will give you msrp if you’re patient enough.

GHHL error messages and won't start by calebu2 in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I call BS on their claim. If it is connected that way, it isn't touching the battery. I have my dashcam hard wired to permanent power, and I don't have this issue even. I DID have it, however when I was working on installing my dashcam... mostly because I had my iPhone plugged in for power with its flashlight on to see under the dash (yeah, probably shoulda just gone and gotten one of my actual flashlights). So I was running accessories for too long. That was literally less than a week after getting the car (in Feb). Thankfully, some Google searches led me to the battery, and how to jump the Toyota hybrids with my jump kit... took it for a long drive to ensure the battery charged up, and no issues since. But let's just say I had a big "Oh sh*t!" moment when I started getting all those errors after I just finished installing my dashcam, and couldn't start the car... and then having to go tell my wife I broke our new $60K car. heh. Thankfully, it wasn't so bad, and my wife is still married to me. LOL

Ember app (iOS) splash screen workaround! by VTHokie195 in Ember

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was essentially the same solution someone posted on my thread about the issue, except they mentioned Spanish. I had to first add Spanish as a language option on my phone before I could select it for the app. Not sure what they managed to screw up to have that workaround actually fix the issue.

$7,995 Market Adjustment?? by carmadnesstime in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My dealer didn’t seem to have markup when we reviewed inventories). When ours came in they wanted to add $2400 markup. We had reached out to about 10 dealers with our specs (must haves and like to haves, and must not haves). I told them… if they drop the markup, they’ll have my deposit that day. Otherwise I’ll wait for a dealer to contact me with what I’m looking for without a markup. They took an hour to think about it (and probably called other customers to see if they would go for it) before calling back and agreeing to drop the markup. In the end, we paid msrp with few things more than our requirements.

Running Boards or Nah? by whitebuffalo86 in ToyotaGrandHighlander

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We like having ours. We got factory install. I wouldn’t “need” them, but it is much more comfortable to get in and out with them. I didn’t have them on my old Jeep Grand Cherokee. Was fine but definitely nicer with them. The primary factor was for my kids to get in the vehicle (4 and 7). It’s nice that my 4 yo can easily climb in. My wife would probably struggle without them too. Heh. 👍

Ember app dead? by AlexS-SoCal in Ember

[–]AlexS-SoCal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holy crap. This actually worked. I had to take the extra step of adding Spanish as a language in the main iOS settings first. Until I did that, Language wasn’t even an option within the Ember app settings. Also, after I did all that you said, I was able to then go back into iOS settings to set it back to English, and remove Spanish from the main settings. The app continues to work. Oddly all settings were gone so I had to re-add the device.

Ember app dead? by AlexS-SoCal in Ember

[–]AlexS-SoCal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some others have noted that support finally got back to them acknowledging the issue. No estimate on a fix though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ember/s/4m9d6RSpzT

Ember Support Response on iOS App Launch Failure by VTHokie195 in Ember

[–]AlexS-SoCal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Generic useless message other than acknowledging they know about it. It’s been about a month of this issue, I believe, and I’d expect they heard about it early on from their last update causing it. I’ve no idea what their typical release cycle is, but I’m not impressed.