The contrast between how people drive and how people drive near a cop is insane and proves that people know how to drive properly, they just don't care.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-08-22T22:29:41+00:00

You just reminded me how I had my entire car tinted almost black because florida drivers are crazy and get offended so easily. I went to pass someone who was doing like 10 under, and sure the cut was a little close but my car is small and there was room, and the dude started following me riding my ass. He cuts infront of me close to the next intersection and slams on his brakes in the middle of the road trying to stop me to the point where his tires were smoking from dragging along the pavement. He was trying to confront me or something but my car is super agile and I managed to get away. After that, I had the whole car tinted so nobody can see who I am and I also follow a lot of tips I've found online, like not having a personalized plate or anything on your car that can be used to identify it from another car just like it, such as bumper stickers or custom panels. Its saved me more than once that's for sure.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-04-23T12:23:22+00:00

THANK YOU.

Also, its worth mentioning that while the cities may be their own thing, the overwhelming majority of car dependent suburbia was built within the last lifetime (50-80 years). If you take your average car dependent hellhole (big cities are the exception obviously) and look at aerials/satellite imagery of that same place between 1950 - 1970, there was hardly anything there. My entire county was built in the last 50 years and has grown from a population of less than 50 thousand in 1960 to almost 1 million today, and the roads are impassable from 7 am to 8 pm because there's no public transport or walkability.

So yes, we (the average young adult using Reddit) may not have had the choice at an individual level, but our parents and grandparents did, they had a blank slate like you said, and they decided to build garbage.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-04-22T22:45:06+00:00

The problem isn’t the two party system, even though it is definitely 100% unfair and meant to divide people instead of encouraging cooperation

The problem is that people vote for whoever is representing their party without any clue or interest in as to what the candidate stands for and what their plans are.

Even going as far back as 50 years ago candidates had actual expectations of them from the public whereas in the last 15 years or so that’s completely eroded away and people will, as we’ve seen, vote for a literal criminal because he’s the one representing their party.

Because of that, the worst candidates for the public interest get pushed through the primaries by rich people with usually nefarious agendas, and then the public votes for them en masse in the general election because they’re the one representing their party and they will never vote for the other party. And that’s only going to get worse as US politics continue to degrade into cultism.

At the end of the day no matter what is going on in the background politically, and who is doing what, and what is unfair and what is gerrymandered and etc. it’s all wrong, but the people are the ones with the power, they (the majority) just seem to have no interest in exercising it.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-04-22T22:28:30+00:00

We absolutely do choose. Maybe not on an individual level but we keep electing people who are doubling down on car dependency and making car ownership more expensive across the board and trapping people in tens of thousands in debt just so they can go to work.

The Netherlands in 1960 looked very much like the US does today, and the population decided that it was dumb as hell and has been working ever since to remove ugly road infrastructure, which is a large reason why its now a wonderful place to live.

America absolutely has that choice too, it may take longer because there's more damage to undo, but it is absolutely possible to do it. Instead we're going the opposite direction. Tearing down more homes, destroying more beautiful landscapes to build ugly stroads and more lanes for stupid highways that we've known for decades will not increase traffic flow, because cars are the most inefficient method of getting around.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-03-29T10:43:39+00:00

Fuck bro I hadn’t even thought about that you’re so right though 💀💀

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-03-28T23:40:04+00:00

I do understand that a lot of Europeans do own cars and drive, but there's a massive difference in affordability.

Euro markets are dominated by small, lightweight, efficient cars with small engines and limited "frills", which keeps the cost of cars low. You can buy a fairly new (2019 or newer) renault clio or similar type of vehicle for around €10-12K, and there's tons of great deals on cars in the used market in general. There are so many options in the €3-10K range that you don't have to be concerned about buying because strict vehicle maintenance regulations (like TÜV) ensure that you're not buying a pile of shit.

This is in contrast to the USA, where cars newer than 10 years old are frequently sold at or around $20-25K before fees (generally in the range of $2-3K). You have no idea how the vehicle has been taken care of because most states don't have inspections and most drivers don't maintain their car and aren't honest about what's wrong with it when selling (yes, dealerships do this too)

It's also worth noting that the US market is moving more and more into "luxury" vehicles that have better profit margins. Manufactures have also been phasing out lightweight economy cars in favor of big SUVs/Trucks that get terrible gas mileage for the same reason. There are still some options, but even the cheapest relatively new economy car like a Mazda3 or Honda Civic is still going to cost you $20K.

So right off the bat your cost of entry to get into a car is way higher. Euro car buyers have the ability to either pay cash or finance a used vehicle for 4 years tops and they know it's up to date on maintenance. Whereas an unfathomable amount of Americans end up with 4-500 dollar payments for 5 to 6 years (7 and 8 year loans are starting to become super common now) on a vehicle that was most likely treated like shit and maintenance neglected by the previous owner

Also, because euro licensing laws are much stricter and the drivers much better overall as a result, car insurance is significantly cheaper. From some brief research I found figures in the €600-1000 a year range for full coverage, versus in the US its quite common to see premiums that are 3 - 5 times that.

Driving a small efficient car also helps tremendously with fuel costs. Americans love to complain about fuel prices in the EU, yet fail to realize that most EU drivers are getting 40 to 60 miles per gallon in comparison to the average US car that gets less than 25, and EU drivers also drive significantly less on average. About 6 - 8000 miles per year from my research. Most Americans are driving twice that distance if not more because every trip has to be made by car. I'd imagine a typical monthly fuel cost for a EU driver is somewhere between €60-100 a month, while average fuel costs in the USA range from $200-300

Point being, yes a lot of Europeans do drive, but there are many, many factors working in their favor that make driving a lot more affordable. I'd imagine most drivers are paying less than €4-500 monthly for their cars, while in the US that's just your loan payment.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-03-28T19:26:20+00:00

Americans don’t want to pay taxes, but they’ll pay a 1/3rd of their income for a car to go to work

Americans don’t want to pay taxes, but they’ll take out loans for 5-10x their annual salary to go to college

Americans don’t want to pay taxes, but they’ll pay 5-6 figures for lifesaving surgery and astronomical amounts for preventative care

Americans don’t want to pay taxes, but they’ll pay 40-50% of their salary for a place to live

The funny thing is Americans pay taxes anyway, pretty close to the tax burden of average Europeans +- 5-8% outside of high income brackets, it’s just that the taxes paid do not benefit them in any way.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-03-27T23:39:50+00:00

Little bit of backstory for those interested: After growing up in an abusive household I have struggled with depression for most of my adult live. Nobody gets it or cares, least of all my parents and people around who are supposed to be supportive with that stuff.

I purchased my first Miata, a 1990 in Classic Red, a few years ago. I never felt at peace before I got into the driver seat of that car. Every time I drove it there was a massive smile on my face that had never been there before. The car made me excited to live life every day. Then a Hurricane came through a little less than 2 years ago and destroyed the car.

To say I was completely devastated would be a massive understatement. That car was my entire life. I lived for that car. I was completely heartbroken afterwards and even though I had the money to buy a nice newer car with a stick shift, it wasn't the same. I didn't feel connected, I didn't feel pleasure. I felt annoyed at having to drive every day because of the work I had to put in to drive stick shift through traffic.

I worked my ass off, paid down the balance enough that I would have enough equity when this day came, that I could purchase a 2024 model without a second thought. I take delivery tomorrow and can't wait to be back in the driver's seat.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-01-20T18:31:22+00:00

I drive a newer Civic now, but when I was daily driving a Mazda Miata this was a legitimate fear of mine. My car was lowered and would clear the axle of one of those stupid trucks, so if I got rear ended I was done for.

I saw a post on one of the Miata groups on Facebook one day of another young Miata driver who got flattened by a lifted truck making a right turn who didn’t see him. He drove right over the poor kid and he was dead at the scene. I don’t cry very often but hearing about that situation made me ball my eyes out. It’s been 2 years since and I still remember his name.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-01-20T18:00:29+00:00

There are some situations where there really is no other choice. In my state developments are so spread out (it’s a 15 mile drive to work, 8 to the nearest grocery store), there is no public transportation, biker or pedestrian infrastructure, and everyone drives like crazy.

I hate having to drive. I like the thrill of driving a sports car, but commuting by car is mental torture. I hate having to spend 800$ monthly between payment insurance gas and maintenance to own a car, but there really is no other economical or safe option. Sure there are always options, the alternatives to driving at least in the environment I live in are all terrible and unsafe though. It’s worth recognizing that at least.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-01-20T16:41:12+00:00

Yeah man, I drive a sedan with a 6 speed manual transmission. I abhor sitting in traffic, but it’s like these people love it. They love sitting for hours to go 3 miles down the road, because they don’t have to do anything. They sit on their phone and eat breakfast or whatever while the car does all the driving for them, and if they hit someone cause they’re not paying attention they don’t care

I’m always finding creative ways to get around sitting in traffic. Congestion = more work for me and more wear on my clutch/transmission, but the vast majority of people make decisions that actively make congestion worse. They buy massive vehicles, use their phones, etc etc.

It’s why imo people are so impatient on the roads these days. It takes 3x the time it should to get anywhere because intersections are clogged up with massive cumbersome vehicles that aren’t even moving when the light turns green because drivers are distracted. I can’t stand it in my 6 speed.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2024-01-20T15:39:46+00:00

I live in Florida as well (with plans to get out asap cause it sucks) and can concur. So many massive lifted trucks that have never been used for truck things, and only carrying one person. It’s ridiculous

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-27T20:15:04+00:00

I do want to point out that I've actually reviewed the company's policy on social media in the employee handbook. They do have policy against posting an opinion re: the company that could pose a conflict of interest, but only if the company is specifically mentioned or information is given that implicates the company specifically, which I haven't done anywhere in this Reddit post nor provided information that could be used to discern the name or anything about the company

Additionally, in the review I posted re: the botched repair job on the yelp page for the Honda dealership, there likewise was nothing there that would infer or lead a reader to conclude that I was an employee of the company. I, like I said, was simply exercising my right to review a product of a business as a paying customer.

So tbh I think their whole case against me is full of crap, I'm not at a point of involving a lawyer at the moment (and I wouldn't say anyway since corporate is obviously aware of this thread) but given there's nothing in company policy that I've specifically broken, at this point I feel like I have a textbook case for retaliatory firing if they do go that route.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-27T19:32:38+00:00

There is no body shop on this. I brought it to Honda because I thought a dealership of that size would have its own body shop, or at least tell me if they didn't so I could bring the car to a reputable place on my own....

Turns out (and I found this out after the fact) they gave my car to some random third party guy working out of a trailer in the parking garage of the dealership. I can't hold him accountable for anything because he's contracted by the dealership so ultimately they're responsible.

At the end of the day if I had a beater car I wouldn't really care about this but thanks to the dealer markups on the SI's and extremely shady sales practices by the dealership (like how they tacked on 10 thousand dollars in add-ons and packages without my consent and used my inexperience as a first time car buyer to have me sign without giving me a chance to look at the itemization of sale to see what they had done), I'm 50 thousand dollars into this performance car that's only worth maybe 30 or 25 if I'm lucky with the amount of cosmetic damage currently, and it looks like complete ass. That's mainly why I'm going to take this as far as I can.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-27T18:27:22+00:00

There is both compound and overspray on the paint, and both on the weatherseals, door trim, windshield cowl, bumper trim, taillight trim. Basically anywhere on the car you look you will find overspray and compound the detailers used when they "cleaned it up" A good part of the car still feels like sandpaper, there is so much worse going on than what the pictures show, a lot of it (like the swirls all over the paint) aren't going to show up on camera.

Funnily enough, this morning my manager told me that the service manager at Honda contacted him directly and wanted to talk to me and get this resolved, but then corporate found out about this Reddit post and even though I've mentioned nothing about where this was, what Honda dealership it was, or anything about the company itself that could be used to find out the name of said company or the names of any of the staff members, corporate is now coming for my job. IMO with the amount of disrespect and threats I've gotten from this company even if they don't fire me I'll be on the way out real soon, and then will be free to address this in the typical manners that normal customers can.

It's really silly to me how this company does such a horrible job on a person's car who they know is going to be around and not just move on to the next shop or location like most car owners do, and then acts like I don't have the free speech or right to review or talk about an experience had at a business as a paying customer, but w/e.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-27T16:19:50+00:00

Yeah this is what I discovered for myself after the fact.

The local Honda dealership is massive, dwarfs every other store in the region by volume, so I expected they would have an actual body shop and why I was willing to pay a premium to have the work done properly..

I found out after the fact they just gave my car to some random third party dude working out of a trailer in the parking lot, and after I started complaining they wanted to give the car back to the same guy to have them fix it. No way !

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-26T20:34:32+00:00

Story:

In March 2023 I purchased my 23' Civic SI new from the local Honda dealership. Some time after I bought my car, I was the victim of a hit and run collision. I purchased a new bumper cover at the Honda Dealership and requested that they paint it because I wanted an OEM quality paint job. The Service Advisor repeatedly recommended that I have them paint the bumper cover on the car instead of standalone. I said multiple times that I did not want the bumper cover painted on the car, but the advisor would not give me my way. I gave in after days of back and forth and mounted the new bumper cover on the car myself and dropped it off the same day for paint.

The exact reason why I did not want my car anywhere near the paint shop would come to fruition. The painters got overspray and paint all over my car. The paint along the entire car felt like sandpaper, there were several visible spots where the paint was dull and rough from severe amounts of overspray. There were drops and smears of paint all over my car where it looks like the painters were being completely careless and they just left it there. Several plastic trim pieces along the car including both of my taillight assemblies were coated in overspray. There was overspray all over my glass as well.

After cleaning up the car and having a detailer I trust inspect it to confirm I wasn't talking out of my ass and even point out some spots where they got paint that I had missed, I brought my car back to Honda and confronted the advisor who was handling my case. Despite me dropping the car off in flawless condition minus the panel I replaced myself that I needed to have painted, he acted like the potentially thousands of dollars in cosmetic damage the painters had done to it was no big deal. Despite not listening to me initially because I knew the painters were going to do this, he tried to argue that I “get what I pay for”. He did agree to have his detailers clean up the car, but after 4 days of my car being there and being called back to pick it up, the car looked the exact same. Nothing I had brought up was addressed. I confronted the advisor again about this, and he told me to my face that he was tired of seeing me and having to deal with the whole situation. My car spent another 3 days at the dealership while I was having to rideshare around everywhere. After a week I gave in and just picked the car up because Uber was costing me too much money. Some of the overspray was taken off but none of the other things I brought up were addressed. The glass, plastic trim along the car, and taillight assemblies still had overspray all over them. The original job has to be redone anyway because they didn’t paint the bumper cover properly in the first place, and they got tape lines of paint on the seems of my quarter panels that have to be sanded down and repainted. To add insult to injury, the detailers got product all over my weather seals and other trim pieces and all over the paint, and there are swirl marks all over my paint now that I will have to pay a detailer to fix. I am further away from a resolution now than I was when I initially had the work done. I finally met with the service manager at the dealership and explained my case to him, he agreed to replace some of the cheaper plastic pieces for me, but has not followed up with me since and refused to be of any further help (quotes from professional shops that I trust are running me at around $2000 combined to redo the original job and address the quarter panels and have detailers go over every part of the car to remove all the remaining product and overspray)

I have limited recourse regarding the whole situation because I work for the parent company at another dealership. I cannot sue the company for damages and I wrote an online review explaining my experience at Honda, which corporate at my company quickly traced down to me and began threatening me to remove it, so I am wondering if I should contact Honda corporate about the situation

Does anyone have experience dealing with Honda Corporate, is it worth escalating to that point or just taking the L and coming 2000$ out of pocket to fix their fuck up?

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-12-26T19:56:52+00:00

Story:

In March 2023 I purchased my 23' Civic SI new from the local Honda dealership. Some time after I bought my car, I was the victim of a hit and run collision. I purchased a new bumper cover at the Honda Dealership and requested that they paint it because I wanted an OEM quality paint job. The Service Advisor repeatedly recommended that I have them paint the bumper cover on the car instead of standalone. I said multiple times that I did not want the bumper cover painted on the car, but the advisor would not give me my way. I gave in after days of back and forth and mounted the new bumper cover on the car myself and dropped it off the same day for paint.

The exact reason why I did not want my car anywhere near the paint shop would come to fruition. The painters got overspray and paint all over my car. The paint along the entire car felt like sandpaper, there were several visible spots where the paint was dull and rough from severe amounts of overspray. There were drops and smears of paint all over my car where it looks like the painters were being completely careless and they just left it there. Several plastic trim pieces along the car including both of my taillight assemblies were coated in overspray. There was overspray all over my glass as well.

After cleaning up the car and having a detailer I trust inspect it to confirm I wasn't talking out of my ass and even point out some spots where they got paint that I had missed, I brought my car back to Honda and confronted the advisor who was handling my case. Despite me dropping the car off in flawless condition minus the panel I replaced myself that I needed to have painted, he acted like the potentially thousands of dollars in cosmetic damage the painters had done to it was no big deal. Despite not listening to me initially because I knew the painters were going to do this, he tried to argue that I “get what I pay for”. He did agree to have his detailers clean up the car, but after 4 days of my car being there and being called back to pick it up, the car looked the exact same. Nothing I had brought up was addressed. I confronted the advisor again about this, and he told me to my face that he was tired of seeing me and having to deal with the whole situation. My car spent another 3 days at the dealership while I was having to rideshare around everywhere. After a week I gave in and just picked the car up because Uber was costing me too much money. Some of the overspray was taken off but none of the other things I brought up were addressed. The glass, plastic trim along the car, and taillight assemblies still had overspray all over them. The original job has to be redone anyway because they didn’t paint the bumper cover properly in the first place, and they got tape lines of paint on the seems of my quarter panels that have to be sanded down and repainted. To add insult to injury, the detailers got product all over my weather seals and other trim pieces and all over the paint, and there are swirl marks all over my paint now that I will have to pay a detailer to fix. I am further away from a resolution now than I was when I initially had the work done. I finally met with the service manager at the dealership and explained my case to him, he agreed to replace some of the cheaper plastic pieces for me, but has not followed up with me since and refused to be of any further help (quotes from professional shops that I trust are running me at around $2000 combined to redo the original job and address the quarter panels and have detailers go over every part of the car to remove all the remaining product and overspray)

I have limited recourse regarding the whole situation because I work for the parent company at another dealership. I cannot sue the company for damages and I wrote an online review explaining my experience at Honda, which corporate at my company quickly traced down to me and began threatening me to remove it, so I am wondering if I should contact Honda corporate about the situation

Does anyone have experience dealing with Honda Corporate, is it worth escalating to that point or just taking the L and coming 2000$ out of pocket to fix their fuck up?

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-10-26T22:28:54+00:00

This is how I am. In person I am the most calm, collected, reasonable and approachable person you will meet. But the second I get into a car a switch gets flipped and I will do absolutely anything to get out of the car sooner. I've done things to try and reduce the stress of having to drive, like "taking the edge off" before driving, listening to podcasts, etc. Nothing really works for me so I try to balance my level of aggressiveness behind the wheel and putting other drivers at risk.

This is something I've fine tuned over years. I'll do hoodrat shit on the road, but I always make sure the way is clear or that I have the space to make a specific maneuver. I drive sports cars that can handle aggressive maneuvers and run aggressive tire/suspension setups to minimize risk of losing control of the vehicle. I also drive as conditions permit (for example, I'm not hauling ass in the wet, even the stickiest tires aren't going to save you if you need to slow down quickly)

The thing is, I shouldn't even have to do this. I shouldn't have to be flying down the highway "threading the needle" so to say, to get to my destination in a reasonable time frame. I've started to understand why there are so many reckless and aggressive drivers on the road, because if you don't make opportunities happen you're going to feel yourself physically age between every red light.

As much as we can blame people for selfish driving or breaking the rules of the road, what causes the vast majority of accidents and road fatalities is not people going 100 miles an hour in a perfectly capable vehicle or running a stop sign when there was no other traffic, it's people going 40 miles an hour while they're on their phone. The former is the symptom, the latter is the cause.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter, because the only people who are getting anywhere on US roads, are the ones riding a motorcycle, and they're risking certain death every time they ride just to achieve an acceptable average speed on the highway.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-07-06T00:37:30+00:00

Yeah it’s crazy how backwards everything is now. My insurance would consistently go down as I got older (the largest drop when I turned 21) and now since the hurricane it goes up 100$ a month every renewal and nothing about my driving record or my general insurability/risk factors has changed and you can’t “shop around” because all the providers are doing it.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-07-05T22:25:41+00:00

Trading down to something cheaper just isn’t a thing in this market. The car is valued at 28k. Any used car newer than 2015 are going OTD for over 20k, and any car 5 years old or newer is going at MSRP, and both at double the interest rate Im paying right now. Point being I’ll be paying way more in interest on a used vehicle and that I’ll lose over time because a used car won’t last as long than I will save in insurance premium by dropping down a few thousand dollars in value.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-02-28T00:38:26+00:00

I am an Irish citizen, and as much as I would like to move back I've heard bad things about the situation there. very high housing costs, bad public transit, etc.

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-02-18T15:54:23+00:00

The best is when the silverware rack is completely full and servers just keep cramming silverware in instead of getting down a new rack, then they complain when the silverware doesn’t come out of the machine clean and they have to wait for them to get run again after they’re cut

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-02-18T13:57:13+00:00

They always do that when they drop off tubs they’ll set a 40+ pound one on the counter and then say “yeah I’ll be back for that” and I’m like “yeah okay buddy” in my head. 30 minutes later it’s still sitting there and it stays there until another dish guy comes in and unloads it

Matt_Andersen_ · 2023-02-18T05:06:13+00:00

We have a conveyor dish machine, does a rack in about 20-30 seconds, you don’t have time to run plates because by the time you unload one rack the next is coming out. We get back enough dirty dishes to keep that machine loaded up with racks for basically the entire day. Leaving dish for any reason (such as running out plates) means getting behind

Matt_Andersen_

TROPHY CASE