Don't waste time on envy... just get the best ride you can afford and enjoy!

[sajohnson]

I chose a well equipped BS BL because it had everything I wanted. (Front camera, garage door opener, heated seats and steering wheel, safety features, towing pkg, etc. ). Do I sometimes second guess my choice? Yes. I’m almost 61 so this will probably be my last vehicle. I’m able to car camp in it. It can go everywhere I want because even in my wrangler I never took it to beat it up. I just have to work on my mindset that it is enough.

From what you wrote it sounds like it's enough.

Our Badlands is really my wife's vehicle. It replaced her 1997 RAV4. She likes the 'boxy' look. Of course there are a few other boxy SUVs, but they are just a tad more expensive:

$150-$160K.

$57-$119K

So the BS BL pretty much had to be 'enough' and it is. Really more than enough 99.8% of the time. My thinking was/is -- might as well get the Badlands and operate it below its limits. It's built for pretty serious off-roading. Almost all of our driving is low load on paved roads, so I figure it will go for about 400,000 miles!

Actually, considering our age (mid-60s) and the low miles we're putting on it, our heirs may inherit the Badlands. Of course by then, vehicles will all be electric with mini nuclear fusion generators on board...

 

[NEFKANO]

From what you wrote it sounds like it's enough.

Our Badlands is really my wife's vehicle. It replaced her 1997 RAV4. She likes the 'boxy' look. Of course there are a few other boxy SUVs, but they are just a tad more expensive:

$150-$160K.

$57-$119K

So the BS BL pretty much had to be 'enough' and it is. Really more than enough 99.8% of the time. My thinking was/is -- might as well get the Badlands and operate it below its limits. It's built for pretty serious off-roading. Almost all of our driving is low load on paved roads, so I figure it will go for about 400,000 miles!

Actually, considering our age (mid-60s) and the low miles we're putting on it, our heirs may inherit the Badlands. Of course by then, vehicles will all be electric with mini nuclear fusion generators on board...

Benz...Smenzzzz... don't sweat it... got you covered... just order this little trinket... place on your hood and "whalla" Instant satisfaction... hell look for the whole grill! why not!? hahaha

 

[sajohnson]

Benz...Smenzzzz... don't sweat it... got you covered... just order this little trinket... place on your hood and "whalla" Instant satisfaction... hell look for the whole grill! why not!? hahaha

We have a 2008 Sprinter-based RV. Back then, MB put 3 different badges on them -- MB; Dodge; and Freightliner. Winnebago used "Dodge" Sprinters.

As you might imagine, some people who buy Winnebago motorhomes are, shall we say, 'status conscious'. The idea of driving a 'lowly' Dodge-based RV was simply intolerable. So they paid hundreds of dollars to have the entire grill replaced with a *Mercedes* grill!

Of course, to really go all the way, the steering wheel must be replaced too...

 

[MJE]

I had a very similar car -- an '85 Impala. It was a retired MSP cruiser. Still had the spotlight on the A-pillar.

I converted it to run on both gasoline and CNG (huge cylinder in the trunk). Also added aux brake lights on the rear deck; hung my Metrorail issued yellow raincoat inside the left rear door; mounted antennas for my scanner and CB on the rear fenders -- but no emergency equipment of course.

That was loads of fun until the MSP caught on. The car was 100% legal, but after a period of harassment a trooper threatened to write me up every time he saw me -- even if I was doing nothing wrong. IOW, he was willing to issue fraudulent traffic tickets.

I never drove the car again after our little chat, but it was fun while it lasted -- like living in a car ad.

As for the "rumored pedophile kidnapping kids" statement, I can think of 2 possibilities:

1) There may or may not have been a pedophile but the guy was just joking.

2) He was insinuating that a pedophile (not your dad) might operate that way -- pretend to be a cop. But in that case, a guy in street clothes driving an unmarked car would not be very effective.

Sorry, I’m not a great story teller. We’d moved to the ‘big’ city. The way my dad tells it the neighbor had heard the rumors going around (no internet to verify or check up on anything then) which my dad had not. Neighbor honestly believed he was there in plainclothes & an unmarked car to keep watch on the school. The costume was somewhat completed by the car as well. He used it for field work so had 2 way radios with all manner of whip antennas mounted.

 

[MJE]

Are you saying that is an unmarked cruiser?! It looks more like our DOT roadside assistance vehicles.

Last I heard the speed cams here in MD are the same -- they are installed primarily in school zones and construction zones. They're pretty generous -- a vehicle must be doing 12+ over in order to get a ticket. There are usually signs warning drivers as well.

Yep, unmarked cruiser. Set up for speed cam duty. There was concern about speed traps & photo radar used particularly as a cash cow rather than to enhance road safety. So the law here was passed that they have to be used only for road safety (hence the playground & construction zone restrictions) & therefore also have to be easily identifiable. A ‘normal’ cop in a normal actually unmarked car is of course still free to pull you over.

 

[sajohnson]

Yep, unmarked cruiser. Set up for speed cam duty. There was concern about speed traps & photo radar used particularly as a cash cow rather than to enhance road safety. So the law here was passed that they have to be used only for road safety (hence the playground & construction zone restrictions) & therefore also have to be easily identifiable. A ‘normal’ cop in a normal actually unmarked car is of course still free to pull you over.

I see. We have the equivalent in construction zones -- usually just a plain white van. There is typically at least one warning sign on the approach to a construction zone with speed cameras.

At least in our case, I'd differentiate between the speed camera vehicles and a 'plain wrapper'/unmarked car. I believe the former is an unoccupied van parked on the shoulder in a construction zone. I think of an unmarked car as an LEO in a fully equipped cruiser, the only difference being it has no light bar, and (usually) nothing identifying it as a cop car.

So when you said 'unmarked cruiser' I was thinking that car with the bright yellow "Drive Safe" was a bit obvious.

Although, as oblivious as most drivers are, I don't think it matters much. For example, on just about any nice day on commute to work (PM shift) I'd see civilians doing 80+ (in a 55 zone) in lane 1 on I-270, followed very closely by a county cop in a fully marked cruiser. This often went on for a mile or two until the distracted river would glance in their rearview and see that light bar. Then they'd freak out, and typically without looking they'd yank their car into lane 2. There were a couple near misses. Then the county cop would floor it and bring it up to typical cruising speed of 90-95 mph (no lights or siren).

The main point being that unmarked cars are rarely necessary for traffic enforcement -- especially with the thin light bars they have now -- they look like a roof rack.

 

[sajohnson]

Sorry, I’m not a great story teller. We’d moved to the ‘big’ city. The way my dad tells it the neighbor had heard the rumors going around (no internet to verify or check up on anything then) which my dad had not. Neighbor honestly believed he was there in plainclothes & an unmarked car to keep watch on the school. The costume was somewhat completed by the car as well. He used it for field work so had 2 way radios with all manner of whip antennas mounted.

Got it!

When you said, "a neighbor saw him parked at the school..." I figured that being a neighbor he a) knew your dad, and b) knew he was not a cop.

I had 2 whip antennas on mine -- they were the same ones the MSP used. I can't recall the mfr, but they had a distinctive grey base.

 

[Emerald]

Actually here was one of my favorite rides. My Mad Max dayzzzz highway patrol for 10 of those 27 years! Making friends left and right! Hahaha

That's a bitchen cop coupe!