Laurel

My dad was a handsome Irishman type who was full of blarney. He had a grade 6 education but had dreams that he was a Donald Trump. My mom was a fairly prim woman from an established Vancouver family. Mom had her nursing diploma plus a degree in 16th century French Literature. My parents were like oil and vinegar in the area of intellectual compatibility, but I think that stayed together due to sexual chemistry LOL. My mom followed my dad around moving us from pillar to post all over the States as my dad tried one job after another (most lasting less than 3 months). We were always broke and one step ahead of the car finance companies. We picked cotton, tomatoes, apples, and dad worked an illegal still in the back woods of Virginia and was the head chef at Little America, Wyoming LOL. He was a Walter Mitty type of guy. Finally she gave the ultimatum that we were heading to her home so we landed up in Vancouver. Short version of our nomadic lives. You all must have some stories of your weird lives too?? I can't be the only oddball.

On a positive note, my parents met during World War II in India. They were part of the China, Burma, India Regiment. My mom was a Canadian nurse who enlisted in the US Army and my dad was an infantryman from Maryland. They met in India about a month before the war ended and agreed to marry if they both were at a certain spot in New York City on January 1st of that year. They were both were there on that day--so two strangers married and lived a very strange life together thereafter.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about various victories and horrible defeats over the generations. They talked about Sulva Bay in 1915 and it made me cry hearing about the horrors that the troops experienced in that battle. I think about 250,000 allied troops died. Can you imagine the magnitude of that many young men losing their lives in that era? Just horrible.

You're welcome Jus! It is Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth countries. The planes are flying in formation over our house right now--having done a fly past at the Cenotaph.

"In Flanders Fields" Written in by John McCrae (1915) After witnessing the carnage of WWI John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields." McCrae, a Canadian, was a medical officer in the Boer War and World War I. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Boy there must be some broken hearted owners eh? Always sad to see these things happen.

A song that seems apt LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRt3PIDER94

Sadly I cannot comment on the visors as we have more rain than sunshine so I rarely use them LOL. Maybe they are built for us rain forest customers.

Do it only if you can afford it and it doesn't make you feel sick to your stomach thinking of having to make payments for a longer period of time. When I was young, I thought nothing of switching to snazzier cars and running up my tab LOL. Now I spend what I have in hand or what I can pay for completely at the end of the month and I sleep better.

What a beauty! I'll trade ya.

Wow! That was quick. Congratulations and keep us posted. What colour is your car? We will look forward to all your stories.

Bill aren't the MFT and power train/fuel things recalls?

I'm not sure how they will react to only doing some of the recalls. I suppose we should have the option, but they may say they have to do everything to keep the warranty valid. I think for us we won't really know the impact of the fuel adjustments until next Spring/Summer. I do know they were done as the EV+ locations disappeared. Also we could stay in EV up to 100 kilometers an hour /60mph in the past and I noticed on the freeway that briefly I could get EV at 110 kilometers per hour. But I noticed overall it was much harder to stay in EV on the freeway after the upgrades. We are satisfied with our car too so I really didn't want them mucking around with it, but I think that they have our best interest at heart so things will work out.

Sounds right to me i.e. Lorne Greene. Raymond Burr must be in the running too with Perry Mason. I love Dragnet--no fluff, no psycho babble, as you say "jus the facts ma'am. Jus the facts."

I think we are only a handful in Canada on the forum. We have Ryan in Chilliwack, BC, Roggie in Montreal, Bruce in Kamloops, BC, and I think one other Vancouverite has posted in the last while. We do have some great Canadian productions. My favourite for the kids and for the young at heart is Heartland (all about horses in Alberta and it is very wholesome and entertaining too boot). I think Continuum is shot here in Vancouver. And of course I have my favourite Battle of the Blades with the macho NHL players learning to pairs ice dance with the likes of Jaime Salle. I find there is little on TV these days other than kooky reality shows. I have reverted to my childhood and often watch reruns of Rifleman, Big Valley, Dragnet, Bonanza etc. We have a channel devoted to the boomers.

LaurasCmax we were similar to you. We got our SEL in November 2012 and everything has worked just fine including MFT. Mileage has never been as advertised except early summer before we used air conditioning. We dragged our heels until mid October for getting any upgrades and then had a long list. The upgrades seemed to go okay--other than they kept the car over night because of not using an ethernet cable on day one. MFT after is still good, one kick is good, not sure about the chime as I think it was fine before the upgrade, Mileage got very much worse after the upgrade, but I gather that is normal. Also the weather is getting cooler and we put snow tires on the week before the upgrades so it is hard to know why it got so bad. I suspect the snow tires are a real factor as they sure whine and change the ride. I was scared of going in, and I won't be quick in the future to rush in for minor ones. But in the over all scope of things, they did better than I expected.

Hi buffalofrenchy. Welcome to the forum. In my opinion if you have to ask your question, your gut is telling you maybe there is a problem and you should not carry on with that particular dealer and car. I tend to follow my gut instincts and that has served me well. Why take a chance when you probably have other dealerships and cars to choose from. Good luck. Our SEL has been a keeper. Edit: My husband has a different view LOL. He thinks don't sweat the dead battery as it is likely just been sitting on the lot for a long while and does not indicate anything other than a dead battery from sitting. So you have the yin and yang from our household.

BillN wrote about the extension on the forum in August. Maybe you can search for it as I can't find it. Just found it! Scroll down in this same header of TSB's to Aug.12th and there it is written by BillN. Thanks Bill!

John just wait and do it down the road when you have to book something else. We waited months with all of ours and we got no flack for doing it that way.

Depends on your dealership LOL. We had all the upgrades done at once on Oct.16th and that included MFT, hands free lift gate, chimes etc. (whatever had come out since the car was built). We were told 3-4 hours for everything. It took 2 days. But they were friendly and cheerful and we only had to pay for the loaner for the first day and second day they paid.

Hero is pretty darned cute. I love Golden Retrievers. Our neighbourhood is sort of yuppie like with townhouses, houses, condos, and zillions of kids and Golden Retrievers. We are always guaranteed a laugh or two on our walks due to the a couple of Golden Retriever pups--all loose of limb, trying to get everyone to play with them.

Very clever! I don't need it for my Tinker as she is getting old and no longer leaps around--sits quietly with her little seat belt and snoozes as soon as the car moves LOL.

Hayesdt that is very discouraging! Sorry for all of your car troubles.

Wab I can relate as I have been on prednisone a few times. I got very manic on it once and started phoning politicians that I didn't agree with LOL. Haven't gone back on it since. It can be a life saver, but oh my those side effects are something else.

Good luck with your new wheels! I'm glad the buyback worked out for you.