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KyAllroad (Jeremy)
KyAllroad (Jeremy) PowerDork
6/18/18 2:44 p.m.

I’m in the opposite boat.  My commute is under 10 minutes so I can take the race prepped Miata if I feel like.

However, I heard something about a Cadillac service recently where for some amount of money you get an caddy you want.  It covers services and insurance and the car.  You want to commute, take the small one from the dealership.  Have a big road trip coming up for 6?  Back to the dealership and take the big SUV, no extra charge, no drama.  Just “use” of a shiney new Cadillac as long as you pay the monthly premium.  

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
6/18/18 3:11 p.m.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

I’m in the opposite boat.  My commute is under 10 minutes so I can take the race prepped Miata if I feel like.

However, I heard something about a Cadillac service recently where for some amount of money you get an caddy you want.  It covers services and insurance and the car.  You want to commute, take the small one from the dealership.  Have a big road trip coming up for 6?  Back to the dealership and take the big SUV, no extra charge, no drama.  Just “use” of a shiney new Cadillac as long as you pay the monthly premium.  

Volvo and a few others have services like this. 

One thing is you have to have the credit/driving record to qualify for their insurance provider since everyone gets the same rate. 

The manufacturers that aren't Volvo are all FOUR figures per month, IIRC.

stylngle2003
stylngle2003 Reader
6/18/18 3:45 p.m.

Window tint may help the A/C on hot days.

I'm not certain how well that insulation will reduce sound.  It may decouple the interior plastics from the chassis to the point they no longer rattle, but there isn't much mass there to damp vibrations.  

New head units are so much better than even ones from 3 years ago it isn't funny.  

Volts are intriguing to me, and I do 45 miles/day.  Wish I could offer more assistance than that.

ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual)
ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) Reader
6/18/18 5:11 p.m.

Short version:  For that length commute, comfort is THE most important thing, more important even than fun or MPG.  Life is short, upgrade now instead of being unhappy for years and wondering why you didnt do it in the first place.

I spent 3.5 years commuting from Westchester County into New York City, 26 miles each way over god-awful roads. Late at night and very early in the morning, the drive could take 50 minutes.  In usual traffic, 65-90 minutes each way, and in bad weather up to 2+ hours.  Spending that kind of time in the car can really wear you out, but when you can feel every bump in the e36m3tty roads, or the heat/air con isn't strong enough to keep you comfortable, it just beats on you and makes an unpleasant situation worse. 

 For 3 years I drove a SAAB 9-3, which was a solid car and nice to drive, but it was noisy, and the seats were just the wrong shape for me, so after 90 minutes it was guaranteed hip pain.  Worse, I never could get the footwell air ducts to blow properly, so on cold winter days my feet would freeze.  Sounds wimpish I know, but it was misery. I tried cushions, I tried the beaded seat pad, I spent hours applying dynamat.  This stuff helped, but the car was never really comfortable, and there was too much wind noise to use a bluetooth phone.

Your proposed fixes to the current car feel a little bit the same.  I don't think they will turn a fundamentally harsh, noisy car into one that is comfortable.  Plus, your new commute is going to reduce your spare time, so hours wasted on upgrades that don't get you there are going to really tick you off.

You also don't need a land yacht.  I ended up switching to an e46 BMW, and it was a WORLD of difference. Buy in was slightly higher, but the experience was 5x better. If I remember, the annual incremental fuel cost was $400,  and it was completely worth it.

ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual)
ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) Reader
6/18/18 5:20 p.m.
slowride said:

I've pretty much decided that I just hate driving in traffic/commuting regardless of what car I'm in.

THIS, by the way, is God's own truth.

Mike
Mike SuperDork
6/19/18 8:34 p.m.

Bad idea of the day, that I'm posting here because I'd mentioned a CL earlier in the thread. We never get really serious Merc coupes here in town. A 2010 CL550 4MATIC with about 50k just popped up about a mile from here, at a dealer I trust, for an amount I'd pay. Worse, my wife likes it too. I'm trying to learn about AIRMATIC, since everything I know about these cars is ABC, but ABC isn't on 4MATIC cars.

Cotton
Cotton PowerDork
6/19/18 8:59 p.m.

When my commute increased I said screw it and decided I wanted to enjoy my ‘commuter’ and be very comfortable.  I went with a 2003 cl600,  well first an s600,  but one thing leads to another.  I bought a needy one,  then bought star diagnostics and learned how to work on it.  The twin turbo v12 is super smooth even with close to 200k and it’s an amazingly comfortable car.  Heated/cooled/massaging seats,  heated steering wheel,  all kinds of options,  not to mention they’re beautiful cars.

I wouldn’t be afraid of that cl550 at all and it would be one hell of a commuter.  The engine bay is less cramped,  so easier to work on that the v12, and you already mentioned the lack of abc,  which is a positive for one out of warranty.  I converted my abc equipped cl to coil overs,   but the airmatic cars are a lot easier to work on and less failure prone.  

Mike
Mike SuperDork
6/20/18 5:09 p.m.

In reply to Cotton :

That's quite the BTDT.

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair MegaDork
6/21/18 9:57 a.m.
ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) said:
slowride said:

I've pretty much decided that I just hate driving in traffic/commuting regardless of what car I'm in.

THIS, by the way, is God's own truth.

... grabbing popcorn, waiting for the atheists to chime in ...

Mike
Mike SuperDork
6/22/18 10:42 p.m.

This just came up nearby for a little cheaper than the Merc. I doubt even you lot could enable me on this idea. 

STM317
STM317 SuperDork
6/23/18 8:00 a.m.
Mike said:

This just came up nearby for a little cheaper than the Merc. I doubt even you lot could enable me on this idea. 

I dunno. I hear Quattroportes are pretty nice, and it would sound a lot better than that Rolls

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