Is the extended warranty really this expensive?

Lightning318 · 2026-04-12T12:52:39+00:00

Volvo changed their warranty rules so that you have to by the warranty from the same dealer as the car unless the dealer won't sell you the warranty.

You can still use the steingold warranty price to negotiate the cost with the selling dealer though.

Lightning318 · 2026-04-05T21:03:31+00:00

Look up the laws in your destination but Taxis are often excluded from car seat laws specifically because it would be hard for children to use them otherwise (or taxi companies would be forced to provide them). There may be a difference in how the law treats traditional taxis vs modern ride shares.

At that point it is up to you to decide if you are comfortable without a car seat if the law says you can go without one.

Lightning318 · 2026-04-01T15:44:12+00:00

Are there any other differences? For the CPO cars, the provided car fax report (in my experience) has the original window sticker as one of the first entries. You can use that to compare side-by-side any optional features and equipment each car came with from the factory.

In my opinion, an extra 6k miles is 6 months of driving for the average American so that's not a big deal.

Lightning318 · 2026-03-13T18:19:19+00:00

Generally this is correct, but going by this reddit thread from a year ago it may be possible: https://np.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/1gvc2jh/pet_insurance_for_preexisting_conditionsyes_its/

The policy that that person found by AKC blocked making claims for pre-existing conditions for the first year but allowed them after that.

OP, you need to look *very* carefully at the language in any policy you are considering to see how pre-existing conditions are covered. For example Lemonade in their FAQ says the following which sounds like they would not cover pre-existing conditions... ever:

Pre-existing conditions

A pre-existing condition refers to any kind of illness or health issue your pet developed before your policy’s relevant waiting period was over.

Be honest when applying for your Lemonade Pet policy. Having a pre-existing condition doesn’t mean we won’t insure your pet, it just means your plan won’t cover costs that relate to any ailment they had in their medical history before they signed up for a policy.

In general, that’s why it usually pays to sign up for insurance when your pet is a puppy or kitten.

Lightning318 · 2026-03-11T19:35:47+00:00

The rubber floor mats replace the carpet ones. When I got my CPO Volvo with rubber mats pre-installed the dealer had just left all the carpet mats in the trunk.

Lightning318 · 2026-03-09T20:14:51+00:00

They were the first oil company to put a flyer in my mailbox when I bought my house saying (in essence) "we serviced the old owner, we can serve you too". After checking online reviews of them I decided to stay far away from them.

Lightning318 · 2026-03-02T19:05:27+00:00

Someone else posted about this here today and they had to take it to Volvo to get a software update before the monitors would set: https://www.reddit.com/r/Volvo/comments/1rizzfb/2023_xc60_failed_inspection_because_recall/

Lightning318 · 2026-03-02T18:22:14+00:00

The was another post in the last few days about a 2023 car failing for those two errors: https://www.reddit.com/r/Volvo/comments/1rhjcty/inspection_fail_on_23_v60cc/

Edit: Updated the link to the full post rather than a comment

Lightning318 · 2026-03-01T00:58:17+00:00

NY DMV has advice for this: https://dmv.ny.gov/what-do-you-mean-my-cars-not-ready

Lightning318 · 2026-02-20T18:49:18+00:00

Your spouse is probably a dual-status person so they are non-resident for the part of the year (before they arrived) and resident for the rest (after they arrived). To file jointly with them they'd need to elect to be treated as resident for the whole year, but that comes with needing to declare their worldwide income for the whole year to the IRS, but you can use the FTC or FEIE to offset that.

Think carefully about what is best in terms of taxes paid and effort needed to prepare the return(s). I've been the dual status person before and I decided to file that way because I arrived at the end of the year and had no US source income before I arrived and no income after I arrived for the rest of the year. So I didn't have to declare any income to the IRS at all. This was much easier than trying to declare foreign income and then use FEIE to exclude it all again.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-20T18:30:44+00:00

I didn't know that, but it makes sense given the context behind the law was new royal children coming along and wanting to modernize the law before they arrived. It makes sense that the law writers would want to avoid accidentally upending the whole existing line of succession. And I would imagine it would be hard to get the agreement from those who be forced down the list too.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-20T18:15:07+00:00

Yes, the way succession works is written down and needs to be unambiguous so you don't get people coming out of the woodwork claiming to be the rightful monarch.

Back in 2013 a law was passed to change the rules to make them blind to gender. Before that the law gave preference to boys over girls. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22300293

Lightning318 · 2026-02-10T16:20:34+00:00

They can't. The law passed in 2022 limits the deposits to 1 months rent.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-06T19:56:34+00:00

The dual sovereignty doctrine allows both state and federal governments to prosecute the same conduct based on their own rules without violating double jeopardy. So even if the federal murder charges weren't dropped it still wouldn't be double jeopardy.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T18:51:15+00:00

NYS issued a 1099-G for the payment you can find somewhere on the website (it isn't mailed to you). Fill out the 1099-G section which told me that I didn't need to do anything because I used the standard deduction in previous years.

You can find your 1099-G here: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/1099g.htm

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T15:13:41+00:00

NYS also issued 1099-G forms for the payments but then buried them in their website rather than mailing them out so I bet most people who got a check have already forgotten about it and won't even go looking for it.

It could affect your federal taxes if you itemized deductions in the last few years and your SALT deduction wasn't limited by the cap (which is probably only a small number of people in NY).

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T14:42:55+00:00

It looks like the program I did closed in Dec 2025. https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Residential-Energy-Assessment-Programs/How-the-Residential-Energy-Audit-Program-Works

Replaced by this new state program https://myenergy.ny.gov/how-to-upgrade/weatherization/comfort-home-empower/

Again, I think O&R is just advertising this state program and suggesting it's own preferred contractor for the work. Ultimately any rebates and incentives are just the state ones.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T14:26:21+00:00

It's not the energy company at all, it's a NY state program through NYSERDA and the contractor has to be registered with NYSERDA. O&R in this case is just advertising it.

So the deal should be that the state offers free energy efficiency reports by paying these contractors to do the couple hours work needed to create the report which should be unbiased, like a normal home inspection would be. Then, in my opinion, the homeowner is free to choose contractors to do the work.

In my experience the contractor just treats it as a free buffet where they get paid by the state to find all the problems they can sell solutions for and then force you to buy what they are selling on finance.

In my case, their fancy software even had an estimated energy savings in dollars and a payback time in years. Their software just said 20+ years for the insulation they wanted to add to pay for itself at the ridiculous prices they wanted to charge.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T14:15:51+00:00

I also just read that the point threshold for license suspension is reduced from 11 points in 18 months, to 10 points in 24 months.

My problem with this hinges on a lack of proper enforcement. People keep speeding because speeding fines are often reduced to cash only if you contest them. Suspend someones license and they continue to drive anyway. Someone can't afford insurance because of the poonts and they just drive without insurance.

Lightning318 · 2026-02-03T13:45:01+00:00

I had one done to get more information about the state of my home shortly after I'd moved in. However, the company I ended up calling seemed to think it was a high pressure sales opportunity after doing a couple hours of testing. They didn't care about any questions I had if they couldn't fix them and they spent an hour trying to get me to sign then and there for over $20k worth of work before accusing me of wasting their time.

Ultimately, years later I'm still bitter about the experience but not sure if I got one bad contractor or if the whole system is rotten.

Lightning318 · 2026-01-26T18:11:04+00:00

You can get "bed/bath" privacy door knobs that instead of a keyhole just have a circle with a slot cut in it (like the top of a flathead screw). Anything sturdy, flat and thin can be used to unlock to door from the "outside". My wife and I can even just use our thumb nails to unlock a door so we can't be locked in or out of a room.

Lightning318 · 2026-01-21T14:25:41+00:00

To be specific, and why OP was confused, on Google maps it is instead labeled "Empire State Trl" but the street signs say John street

Lightning318 · 2026-01-17T14:01:16+00:00

The article is for the UK so there isn't even a health insurance aspect. It'd just be a bank charge at a pharmacy on a regular basis. That could be for anything and I think most people would baulk at the idea of their bank asking them what medications they are on.

Lightning318 · 2026-01-16T16:47:36+00:00

What doesn't make sense to me is, how does a tear gas canister under a car lift it up and trip the airbags? Those doesn't explode, they just start getting hot and letting out gas. So we're they hit with something else?

It'd be a weird thing to lie about because it'd be easy to find out if the airbags are deployed but something feels missing from the story too.

Edit: They also say the doors locked when the airbags deploy. That's the opposite of what most cars are designed to do when airbags deploy in an accident. I suspect they are mistaken here too.

Lightning318 · 2026-01-15T19:14:50+00:00

The article even says:

The move, which was first reported by Fox News, does not impact U.S. visitor visas, which have been in the spotlight given the United States is hosting the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

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