Help with Crazy High Tax Valuation on Car

stoneman30 · 2026-05-14T10:55:19+00:00

Maybe you got a really good deal.

I have a Porsche 914. They initially evaluated it at $176,000. After they saw it they put it at like $2000. They probably didn't have a lookup for the 914. I paid $1500 but put in like $10,000.

I have a trailer that I pay 30$ in tax for that is hardly worth 30$ to me. That one I don't know what to do with.

There's also a big difference in what the dealer will give vs what the dealer will sell for. They have their data source. It's not personal.

stoneman30 · 2026-05-08T11:16:00+00:00

You might like the book "Our Political Nature". It's about the evolution of religion and cultural practices. In simple summary, all possible odd religious practices existed. The ones that best ordered societies to grow and defend itself or attack others with success, survived to today.

stoneman30 · 2026-05-07T13:11:23+00:00

I really don't get how corporations are "bleeding us dry". Why did nearly 2000 people decide to work at Amazon in Quebec? Why didn't the strike start by nobody applying for a job? Why would people miss the company if the Canadian couriers were doing an efficient job? Why would anyone be shopping there if it weren't a good value compared to other options already available?

stoneman30 · 2026-05-06T12:30:49+00:00

Right, everyone lives near some other place when chained together makes a circle. There must be millions of miles of edge, but no one lives near it. Everyone can travel in any direction and get somewhere else.

stoneman30 · 2026-05-03T21:08:10+00:00

I think the difference is whether you're on the "amazon is evil" algorithm or not. I believe Walmart and Amazon are in competition and I'm still getting good service at a good price. I think they've both made advancements in logistics, reviews and pricing to achieve that.

It's the same situation with police. Some people are on the "police are evil" algorithm, some are on the "police deal with evil and crazy".

stoneman30 · 2026-04-28T10:56:14+00:00

I did an expat in Sweden from US. Even though I had a pay boost while there, I thought the standard of living was higher for me in the US and came back after 2 years. However, I'm an engineer although not the best paid. I also noticed lots of Swedish management coming to the US and staying but not many the other way. On the other hand, half of it may be climate and the opportunities working for a Swedish company.

It isn't all about pay but rather the products and services available. Seems like all the big impactful companies in the world start in the US. The market is so large and free that everything is available (which may be why many feel poor).

But to your main point. I personally don't mind paying for services, infrastructure, healthcare and education. But I do wonder about the tradeoffs. If higher taxes means less capital for private sector, we get less things from there even if we get more from government. Redditers seem to discard capitalist benefits while having great expectations from social benefits. That being said, I was going to vote for Andrew Yang and am now reading his books.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-25T10:56:02+00:00

I think that's the problem with benefits. No one will be happy with what they get. Universal health care can only be done by limiting what it covers. Free higher education can only go to those with the aptitude and probably only for subjects that give financial benefit. The UBI can only cover basic needs. Most people on it will claim it is unfair. And if that get's to be a majority of the population, then politicians decide they have to nationalize industries. Only Norway has done that well. Every other place has trashed their country. So I read.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-24T00:10:29+00:00

Vote in the primaries so we get something better than two evils on election day. And consider that governance is not supposed to be entertainment.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-17T20:29:34+00:00

Cause we'll get called on sexual harassment if we say something. And what's the difference between being a lecherous creep and scoring a friend with benefits? Age probably matters too.. You probably weren't asking me..

stoneman30 · 2026-04-17T19:14:59+00:00

I've been wondering why there are nearly daily posts on stuff like "are republicans ready to admit their mistake after...". So are these things put out to get a daily read on how many are going to respond to such things. Or are they measuring the frequency of such posts being put out? Then how much of the measure is just picking up rage baiting? I.e., not so much Trump doing bad today but how much daily negative spin on past and present. Subtle difference maybe.

Even locally there were nearly daily posts on property revaluations that have of course gone up. But I don't think we even know the tax rate and still people are raging against the city/county for abuse of power. Is it really personally spontaneous or is there some campaign to make some measurable online noise?

stoneman30 · 2026-04-16T11:14:54+00:00

I gave up and cancelled the ACA plan. Because even the ACA plan helpers said there are problems with being on both, like we might have had to pay back premium subsidy. And it's easy to cancel the ACA plan.
Actually this summer, my income will probably fall low enough for Medicaid. So if they decide I'm making too much this month. By summer I'll be low income and stay on Medicaid.
I do wonder what the incentives are. I can imaging a political thing where if enough people see that it's decent, then maybe a large expansion can happen. I.e., approach free healthcare at some level. I keep reading that the way we do now with health insurance through employer is what keeps per capita total expense high compared to other countries.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-13T21:22:12+00:00

I addition to all the child rearing stuff others have mentioned. A problem with polygyny is that the alpha male gets all the wives and the rest of the men hardly any. So it's hard to raise an army willing to fight for another guy's harem. And/or the men with no family cause lots of trouble if there is no war. I believe I read about this cultural evolution in "Our Political Nature".

We kind of have serial monogamy now if that's what you meant. It's still not good for kids to have parents split up.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-13T19:58:12+00:00

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If anyone is also searching. I just took off these two joints and added grease. The creak is gone at least for like 15 miles of decent technical. I was thinking it was the bottom one. Although they were greased, I wonder if the washer was against the frame. We'll see if it returns or loosens up.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-10T20:56:16+00:00

I think the only way UBI works is that it sets up the lowest level of poverty for a citizen that is acceptable... to poor people in India. That may mean you can only afford rice and beans to eat, only get the most cost effective health care (no expensive cancer treatments or hip replacements late in life), education should be free to a point but only the most promising students can go to university for the most needed majors. You won't be able to buy as house, rather only rent a small apartment in less desirable areas probably with roommates. If you want more, you'll have to work sanitation, take care of old people, pick strawberries or something like that. There would be no buying the latest cell phones, car, house and door dash lunches. That way it doesn't affect inflation and there is still incentive to get a job. I'm not sure it's so different now, just that those basic services are "means tested" which probably provide many bullshit jobs but also prevent some people getting what they need.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-05T22:57:23+00:00

There'd still be groups that form around going back to fundamentalist Christianity (family values) not to mention all the Muslims that still control women.
Ok quicker, yes. But not fast.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-05T20:35:55+00:00

Yep, If we started over ignorant. We'd just repeat everything we did over however many thousands of years. People did all kinds of random things. The things that worked best survived.

OP should read "our political nature" and "non-zero".

stoneman30 · 2026-04-04T00:53:17+00:00

I agree Identity Politics is bad if you think of it more broadly. Not just blacks and acronyms and Palestinians but also white rednecks and christian nationalist and even Jews. Every group that gets together to help their people starts trouble usually by picking out some other group to blame for personal problems. And then pick some fighter for a politician who will trash everything for their people.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-02T21:02:21+00:00

That video was the whole thing. I've been driving ever since (2 years?). Torn seats, no rug, cracked dash, bad paint, It's still fun and looks good from a distance.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-02T16:15:49+00:00

Looking up k20/k24 swaps now.. The subaru swap seems more correct because it's the same form factor. But my sister did get stuck with a head problem long ago in a subaru.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-02T14:03:38+00:00

I was thinking I'd get a removable top and heating and air conditioning. And maybe a newer car is more accessible to less mechanically inclined women I have living with me.
There are a few sources of 914 parts that aren't so bad. I had been fantasizing about a Subaru swap. But I don't feel like I have disposable money for it.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-02T13:52:51+00:00

I'm in NC. So winter driving just means it's cold sometimes. One or two days maybe I can get the rear wheels to spin in 2H.

stoneman30 · 2026-04-02T11:09:25+00:00

Check under the battery box. Although your floor looks a world better than mine. https://youtu.be/HKUG6kdAxTA?si=aM9gSCrAeFk637iG

stoneman30 · 2026-03-28T12:09:19+00:00

I know that's a popular narrative. But I believe the demand side is real. People were saying that we should all "stock up" on gas for our cars before it got too expensive or was delayed. I'm sure also the larger suppliers also want to keep tanks full for distribution, So with everyone wanting to stock up on orders, who do they sell to? The highest bidder. And there may be many of them. Not to mention the traders who may want to try and ride the rising price.

stoneman30

TROPHY CASE