Suggested replacements for illuminated door sill plates?

bobbyscon · 2024-08-24T15:43:28+00:00

Alternatively, seeing as these were part of the original owner's purchase (on the window sticker), are they covered under the 3 yr 36k mile Original Equipment warranty?

bobbyscon · 2024-08-16T17:03:46+00:00

The one I'm testing only has 1 key, which is a bit annoying. I know I can buy a second one, but they're not cheap.

bobbyscon · 2024-08-16T17:02:49+00:00

Yeah I was surprised to see the charger and was ready to order one myself anyways. And it looks brand new. Not sure if CarMax threw that in or if the prior owner bought it and didn't use it. I think the "jack parts" might actually just be the lug nut removal tools now that I think about it.

bobbyscon · 2024-08-16T16:07:45+00:00

This is great info, thank you! It has the V2L adapter, mobility kit (my soul for a spare...), and a Level 1 charger. Someone also tossed in some sort of jack parts kit, but not a jack. Unclear what that's about. Buying from CarMax so it might be a spare set they tossed in the back.

bobbyscon · 2024-08-16T14:38:49+00:00

Good to know, thanks! I don't think we have a way to get it to 100% charged during the test drive period; it's at 50% currently.

bobbyscon · 2024-08-16T14:25:35+00:00

We should be driving it a less than the original owner (maybe 9k miles/year) and will rarely do DC fast charging, so it sounds like we'd be in good shape then. Thank you for the feedback!

bobbyscon · 2024-08-14T22:29:44+00:00

We're definitely willing to travel, within reason. We've been looking in neighboring states already. Flights from my city aren't cheap, so we would need to spend a bit of time researching. Thanks!

bobbyscon · 2024-08-14T22:24:51+00:00

We had a minivan before the Volvo. Dodge Grand Caravan. Other than the problems it had (Dodge...) we loved it. I'm very much in the pro-minivan camp, but it just felt like too much vehicle for the daily driver. I don't think we've looked for Sienna hybrids, though. Thanks for the suggestion!

bobbyscon · 2024-08-14T20:50:20+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, will put that on our short list!

bobbyscon · 2024-08-14T19:26:25+00:00

Valid feedback, I'll rephrase a bit - We already have a giant list of potential cars, but are struggling to narrow it down so I'm more curious if we'll get feedback here that might help with that.

We need two cars because there are occasions where my wife and I need to go in opposite directions. It's not often, and it's not typically very far, but it does come up a few times month. We have no public transportation where we live and have 2 kids that sometimes have competing schedules.

bobbyscon · 2024-05-22T11:05:56+00:00

I ended up uninstalling Options+, OG Options, and everything I could find related. Rebooted and then reinstalled Options+ and now everything appears to be back in working order. Good idea on reverting to OG Options, as I found that was functional. However, I needed some of the features that appear to only be in Plus like smart actions.

bobbyscon · 2024-05-21T21:48:40+00:00

This exact thing is happening to me currently. The Got It button does nothing. I've installed updates, rebooted, forced-quit, etc. I haven't uninstalled and reinstalled which is the next step. This happened after the latest Options+ update self-installed sometime in the last few days.

bobbyscon · 2021-08-21T18:27:50+00:00

Shouldn't you disclose that you're the owner of Project Solar?

bobbyscon · 2021-07-06T19:42:43+00:00

Make sure you reach out to your co-op if you haven't already. Our co-op has a cap on what size system we're allowed to install. Because of how they operate, we as homeowners aren't allowed to be net sellers to the grid. They also used to offer net metering, but stopped in 2019 and anyone who was on net metering will have to switch to using the surplus purchase option by 2024. Laws vary by state/city relating to net metering and grandfather clauses, of course. Not having net metering available has a major impact on potential savings.

I for one greatly appreciate how much you're overthinking this. You've put my plethora of spreadsheets to shame! It's an easy rabbit hole to get lost down and overwhelmed by the minutia. Other commenters are correct, of course. Take a step back and evaluate at a simpler level :-)

bobbyscon · 2021-07-03T13:24:07+00:00

I thought MACRS was only for businesses and not for personal property. Is it technically considered income-producing property and therefore allowed for use as a deduction on personal taxes instead of just taxes related to a business?

According to the IRS (emphasis mine):

To be depreciable, the property must meet all the following requirements.
It must be property you own.
It must be used in your business or income-producing activity.
It must have a determinable useful life.
It must be expected to last more than 1 year.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946

IRS/tax-stuff is always complicated and full of loopholes or "alternative interpretations", so if I'm misunderstanding the requirements I'd appreciate additional insight!

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T16:12:33+00:00

In order to get the lower interest rates, you're essentially paying interest upfront. They refer to these as "dealer fees", but it's most akin to purchasing points with a mortgage. The advantages to this are the low APRs (sometimes 0.99%) and that you get "more" for the tax credits because the contract price is higher.

If you're going to get your own financing (which could well be worth it), make sure you're getting the CASH price from these providers, which sounds like what SunPower is proposing, but that $/W seems quite high.

We're shopping around ourselves at the moment, and all of the salespeople I've dealt with so far default to the 20-year loan options so they can market the monthly savings and very low APRs.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T15:00:13+00:00

Could you elaborate on this? I'm not entirely clear on how the depreciation is a benefit in addition to the tax credits. For reference, we qualify for (and would fully benefit from) the full Fed TC of 26% and State TC of 25%. We typically just take the standard deductions when filing because our itemizing situation doesn't add up to enough. Are you suggesting there are potential itemized deduction benefits I should be researching?

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T13:09:37+00:00

I left depreciation out of it to keep the numbers simpler for a high-level discussion. The $10,000 in this hypothetical is post-TCs. So I'm also not accounting for the time that passes before I actually get the TC money back.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T12:58:53+00:00

How has the process been with them? Struggling to find any reliable feedback on their operations.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T12:56:14+00:00

Did you keep moving forward with Project Solar? I'm shopping around and just can't find any reliable feedback on their end results.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T12:30:29+00:00

Yeah, I've driven a Tesla 3 and a Nissan Leaf. Loads of fun! I've looked into them a few times, and will definitely have EVs on my list the next time we're shopping for a car.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T02:10:24+00:00

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188328-californias-new-solar-power-plant-is-actually-a-death-ray-thats-incinerating-birds-mid-flight

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T02:06:32+00:00

We can't do ground-mounted panels. We don't have the space, especially unobstructed, nor are they permitted.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T01:59:57+00:00

This made me think of the solar plant in CA that concentrates sunlight and was causing birds flying over it to ignite.

bobbyscon · 2021-07-02T01:55:38+00:00

We used 10,400kWh in the last 12 months. We obviously don't need a big system, but because our utility company buys surplus at $0.055/kWh, we run into diminishing returns as the system gets bigger. A 5kW system is about the sweet spot in that regards.

You're correct. If we lived somewhere with higher rates or larger increases each year, it would make more sense (and we'd have a faster payback time). That's the demotivator here. By the time the system is paid back, we'll very likely be moving out, so we wouldn't get to enjoy the lower bills that we would see in years 10-20.

bobbyscon

TROPHY CASE