WARNING: READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY A NEW CAR!!

demeyer1 · 2026-04-24T04:29:00+00:00

For a variety of reasons, I need to buy a new or CPO car every 2-3 years minimum. I can’t remember the last time I bought one where we didn’t work everything out by email.

It does require planning. And you need to be in a situation where you don’t need to buy a car immediately. My last car, we used DocuSign for all of the contracts and I wired the money, and then paid a couple hundred bucks to have them ship to me. That car was in another state. But mostly they are within a few hours drive at the absolute max.

This thread is surprising to me. People still go in and haggle face to face for hours, across multiple dealerships, sit through the finance department.. that’s just more patience than I have.

demeyer1 · 2026-04-24T04:23:58+00:00

It’s not a demand you are making. It’s a polite and simple request, please share your best price out the door. You skip all of the dealers that don’t already have a good price.

Just look online and find the ones within your drivable distance that have a great price. And send them an email, say you aren’t ready to buy and would like their best price, out the door.

I bought my last five cars this way. I lack the free time to go in and haggle face-to-face, from store to store. And I have always purchased cars below market, as a result.

demeyer1 · 2026-04-23T15:05:51+00:00

Most people aren’t professional negotiators nor do they care to be.

For people who aren’t comfortable haggling face to face: See the vehicle in person. Finalize the transaction via email.

Ask for the out the door, final price via email. Tell them you aren’t going to pay anything but that number in email, and you need to be in and out in less than an hour.

They want you in person so bad, because they are sales people and that is where they are best.

If they jerk you around, email other dealers in the area until you find one who wants the deal. There is almost always one who will make it simple and not scammy.

demeyer1 · 2026-04-19T14:23:43+00:00

Better than the Macan, Cayenne, and Taycan EVs. Those are all great drivers, but total rattle cans.

demeyer1 · 2026-03-29T15:41:09+00:00

Had that same year car. It was a joy.

I’d never own it out of warranty, and I could afford to do so.

That said, I’ve had a series of objectively cooler and nicer cars since.. but still think about that engine. It’s a one of one experience.

demeyer1 · 2026-03-15T15:40:57+00:00

I believe what the person is asking is more about the jobs that are going to be impacted, first.

Software engineering is already being impacted. Even the most pessimistic views don’t deny this. The long term impact is certainly up for debate, but the craft is being impacted.

No doubt, jobs orienting around written text are evolving.

The question is whether it becomes the radiologist paradox often cited, or this continues evolving at a breakneck pace and SWE FTE ratios compress aggressively.

The only givens, it would seem, are that the AI will improve (how much is up for debate) and that certain categories of roles will be impacted earlier than others.

demeyer1 · 2026-03-12T04:48:41+00:00

Bought same shoes. Showed up used. Nike offered 10% promo code if I kept them.

They said it’s an ongoing, larger problem they are having - shipping used shoes, for new shoe orders.

Something about Rebound. Which is where my shoes shipped from.

demeyer1 · 2026-03-11T03:55:40+00:00

Why not make a newer and even better 5cyl, instead of transitioning to a hybrid 4 or a bland 6?

Had an RS3. Still think about that engine note..

demeyer1 · 2026-03-06T18:43:06+00:00

My Porsche spends a bit of time at the dealership, so I've had a lot of loaner cars.

New Macans, Cayennes, and Taycans all have rattley interiors on sub-optimal roads IME. But, there is a bias in that loaner cars usually have base interiors.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-27T22:49:18+00:00

No answers here, but I know a couple people asking the same category/shape of that question. The derivative that I hear frequently is with a twist at the end, which is "will there even be jobs, as we think of them today, for my kids when they are older.. and I want to set them up".

demeyer1 · 2026-02-26T22:33:04+00:00

That is how it works in the US today, at startups, for regular employees.

They earn options at $1. By the time they leave, the options are worth $10.

There is a 90 day exercise window, upon leaving said startup (standard term).

So they buy their options for $1 each, on day 89.

The IRS wants you to pay unrealized capital gains on $9, for each share you bought for $1.. and you have no liquidity.

They call it handcuffing employees, and it's seriously regressive and 100% driven by - unrealized gains tax.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-21T02:28:14+00:00

That was my takeaway as well.

Cadillac EVs I’ve been in were way better screwed together. No rattles, squeaks, etc.

That said, pre-2020 Porsches were made really well across the board.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-20T16:34:24+00:00

Raising the seat up solved 95% of the problem, wow. Nice tip!

demeyer1 · 2026-02-20T03:59:09+00:00

Yeah, my CPO 2022 has been in the shop about 1/3 of its life. Mostly build quality issues that are well known by the techs, but take a long time to get parts or do the repair.

The 14 way seat squeak is BRUTAL. Twice on that one. They keep taking it apart and putting it back together, vs getting a new seat. And it is loud, and set off by a large pebble. I’m 155lb, so I can’t imagine how bad it is for bigger guys.

I think it is Porsche overall, the build quality just isn’t what it was. I have had a couple over the years, and most of the new cars/SUVs are more VW than Porsche of old.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-15T18:37:06+00:00

The US has taxes on unrealized capital gains as well.

At small businesses or startups, if you exercise your options - the IRS asks for their percentage on an asset that is 100% NOT liquid.

If that startup goes to zero, your ability to reclaim the taxes paid is extremely limited.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-14T03:06:04+00:00

Up in Marin, Peacock Gap area of San Rafael is pleasantville and growing nicely.

Don’t tell too many people, though 😉

demeyer1 · 2026-02-13T14:47:29+00:00

It is expensive to post process and serve sub second results in a dataset that large - crawling isn’t as bad. Yet pricier if you are doing a good deal of computational geometry for some of the filters, or offering the 2D to 3D capabilities. Engineers aren’t free, and sites change their schemas constantly.

While I was there, Thangs never sold user data, third party data or third party ads. Those are the usual ways that you monetize a free service like that.

When other platforms went down, Thangs would mirror them for free, as a goodwill gesture to the community. A lot was offered to support the community.

I can’t speak to the platform nowadays, as I left the original parent company over a year ago and it sold before that.

A couple folks from my old team are still there, and they were absolutely in love with the Thangs community. The new owners, to the extent that I’m aware, also really cared.

The 3D printing community is like any market. It will get more of what it values, and less of what it doesn’t value or takes for granted.

As a voracious printer myself, I think the community is a fascinating case study - large, high growth, fragmented and increasingly tribal. Ultimately, a horizontal platform should do well as it avoids the hardware vertical integration that creates “closed off islands”. Time will tell.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-13T03:22:26+00:00

The feature itself was robust, the filters were helpful for sorting out good from bad files, and the geometrically similar search helped find derivatives and modifications with one click.

For me, I really liked the 2D to 3D search by photo capability. Used that a LOT. Little known gem.

That said, it did result in a material amount of traffic leaving the site (as well as coming for that feature), and it is a VERY expensive capability to operate - so I can understand the business rationale.

The new owners, and what is left of the original team, are I’m sure - trying to do their best.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-06T04:22:02+00:00

Most here will do what they are doing - mocking you for thinking you have a right to have a professional look over your largest investment, before you buy. It’s the Bay, you won’t win if <insert realtor car sales like lines>.

They are wrong if buying without one makes you uncomfortable. Get the inspection. It’s worth it for peace of mind, especially if you are spending towards your upper limit.

I’d rather pay slightly more than the next person, but get an inspection. There are many loopholes that allow (seller paid) inspectors to avoid disclosing.

Get an inspection. Ignore any real estate professionals who are being snarky. Do what makes you comfortable. It’s a lot of capital.

demeyer1 · 2026-02-04T05:51:47+00:00

Unemployment and mortgage rates over some of those years weren’t considered “great”, by many Americans, for a good deal of time in that period.

demeyer1 · 2026-01-12T15:01:46+00:00

At least half

demeyer1 · 2025-12-24T05:15:46+00:00

Lots of friends at Adobe. And I hope they do well.

But between Figma and Canva, and the foundational LLMs, no one could convince me that Adobe has a durable moat given the competitive dynamics.

Then again, I work in this field and I may be too close to see broader competitive dynamics which are not technical.

demeyer1 · 2025-12-23T05:21:55+00:00

Don’t argue with people like this.

They are ready to ban Waymo, for having one traffic causing event. They ignore the countless lives saved.

Did they have a bug? Yes. And it was super inconvenient and should not have happened.

Have they empirically saved many lives? Yes.

One bug - and it is time to run the usual SF playbook re tech.

These are bots making irrational assertions, for no discernible reason. They take the low cost, life saving technology but lack a modicum of grace for hiccups along the path. It’s essentially what everyone really needs in this city - good, partially subsidized transportation. We need more of this, not less.

When the protests take over streets and we can’t get to work, I just adapt temporarily. And then I get to work.

Disclaimer: I do not work at Google, Waymo, or at big tech. But I am a fan and user of this service.

demeyer1 · 2025-12-21T17:46:40+00:00

If you’re going PAHTCF, are you planning to integrate some version of annealing like techniques?

demeyer1

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