[Toshi]

Rotiform Aerodiscs on my ID.Buzz? oh yes, it's happening.

:ronpaulit'shappening.gif:

ordered:

Rotiform LAS-Rs, 18 x 8.5"
Rotiform Aerodiscs to fit said 18"s

ok, it's not happening. shall have to return these things. two reasons:

1) said 18"s will most likely not clear the 15" rotors and matching calipers on my US-spec ID.Buzz. turns out Euro spec 18" OEM wheel ID.Buzzes have 14.1" rotors a la AWD ID.4s. this was very difficult to figure out!

2) even if they did fit, the load rating of the LAS-Rs is unfortunately insufficient. they're 1,600 lb for each corner. the SWB Euro ID.Buzz has a GVWR of 6,600 lb so close enough to handwave it away. my LWB US spec one will have a curb weight of 6,197 lb and somehow a GVWR of 7,408 lb despite a 948 lb payload even though that math mysteriously does not math: curb weight + payload should == GVWR, no?

gah.

 

[Pesqueeb]

Speaking of things that aren't happening:

Aptera shows off a new solar-powered car that it swears will go into production

The resurrected solar startup is making another go at it.

www.theverge.com

 

[Toshi]

It got dropped off this afternoon while I was at work. Had the guy put the fobs in the milk cooler on the porch.

First impressions:

- it’s so tall! (except in the cargo area above the folded third row, that is—still way taller than an EV9)
- feels incredibly roomy and airy inside
- windshield super far away and can’t see the hood one whit
- good NVH isolation while driving around town but some porpoising over expansion joints
- snappy acceleration and B mode feels natural enough
- could use more front seat storage yet
- low info mode on the driver display is better than the cluttered default layout

 

[Toshi]

another annual review submitted. year 10(.5) here for me. I think they'll keep me around, probably.

4.95/5 overall rating from the residents, and I did enough academic work grudgingly (as a minor author, the way to go at this point in my career) by squeezing out two abstracts and three publications. plus I'm a co-investigator on one grant this year, too.

shall be enough to pass muster for another year, eh

 

[Toshi]

first 100% SOC charge on the bus, and it reports a guess-o-meter range estimate of 232 miles, lining up nicely with the EPA's 231 rating.

shall take it up to the mountains this weekend—Les Schwab should be slapping on Pirelli Scorpion Winters on it this afternoon if all goes to plan since the Discount Tire + Nokian plans I had were foiled by their logistics sucking this week and the Nokians being MIA at the shop. I will report how much SOC is eaten up for each leg of the journey: this'll be the test that determines whether I buy out the lease or ride it out and move on after 36 months.

 

[canadmos]

If you were to buy it out, would you start charging it to 80%?

 

[Toshi]

If you were to buy it out, would you start charging it to 80%?

Maybe in the summer

 

[Toshi]

nice touch by VW: USB-C on the rearview mirror surround, designed just for dashcams. 6" USB-C to mini-USB cable en route now.

was spotted out and about this morning by a co-worker whose phone cam wanted desperately to focus on his rainy window

put up another J1772 holster the other day, because the VW has a right-rear charging port placement instead of the PacHy's left-front fender. moved it from the wall on the left (you can see two Togglers faintly at photo left against the blown-out-exposure wall) to this location as the charging port flap swings forward and being in front of the opened flap is thus awkward physically.

this set of ski racks now is set up on the bus for weekend skiing, with Pirelli Scorpion Winters now on the OEM bus wheels after more minor drama. those factory crossbars (part of the 1st Edition package along with _not_ having a HUD, go figure) are very girthy. had to spin that little adjustment wheel a lot.

PacHy crossbars went back to being stored longitudinally on the roof of the PacHy itself for its sale, whenever that happens. got a dealer offer for $20k but potentially could get quite a bit more if and only if I can find an interested buyer who also happens to be eligible for the used EV tax credit.

basically, if they have a household MAGI < $150k for last year then we would do the transaction via a site called KeySavvy that acts as an intermediary dealer/escrow outfit:

let's say we agreed on that same $20k price from the buyer's perspective. the transaction would then be for a nominal $24k sale price. the buyer would pay KeySavvy $20k. KeySavvy would pay me $24k and take physical possession of the car/fobs/title, transferring them to the buyer. KeySavvy would then collect $4k (of the 30%-up-to-$4k-of-vehicles-$25k-or-less-transaction-price) from the IRS.

 

[canadmos]

The usb port on the window is nice. I've had my VW for what two or three years now and still haven't bothered to run the cable for the dash cam, because annoying trim and don't want it just hanging down.

How does keysavvy make money on that deal? The buyer pays a service fee or something?

 

[Toshi]

The usb port on the window is nice. I've had my VW for what two or three years now and still haven't bothered to run the cable for the dash cam, because annoying trim and don't want it just hanging down.

How does keysavvy make money on that deal? The buyer pays a service fee or something?

They charge $99 to the buyer and seller alike

 

[Toshi]

Insurance is a massive issue.

I had an independent insurance broker (100% funded by commissions on the policies sold, no fee paid directly by me) get quotes for me on auto, home 1, home 2, and umbrella policies.

auto couldn't be beat. no other companies would write for the Denver house after the recent claims (big May hailstorm in particular that got me the new roof, replaced 4 PV panels, repainted house and stained fence, etc.).

she got a quote a solid $1k/yr lower on the Tabernash house, though. it helps that it's ICF and the fire standpipe is literally at the foot of the driveway. coverages are proper for actual replacement. umbrella policy also dropped $200/yr. I will take $100/mo for free gladly. hell, it'll pay for parking two weekend days in the Winter Park Resort garage!

anyway, Jen Mathes if you want to requote your existing place. no downside to doing so. you just send her your existing policy declarations and she works from there to make sure coverages are matched and all.

Jen Mathes • Home & Auto Insurance in Denver's Central Park

Meet Jen Mathes, a highly experienced insurance professional specializing in home, auto, and business insurance.

jenmathes.com

 

[Toshi]

ok, it's not happening. shall have to return these things. two reasons:

1) said 18"s will most likely not clear the 15" rotors and matching calipers on my US-spec ID.Buzz. turns out Euro spec 18" OEM wheel ID.Buzzes have 14.1" rotors a la AWD ID.4s. this was very difficult to figure out!

2) even if they did fit, the load rating of the LAS-Rs is unfortunately insufficient. they're 1,600 lb for each corner. the SWB Euro ID.Buzz has a GVWR of 6,600 lb so close enough to handwave it away. my LWB US spec one will have a curb weight of 6,197 lb and somehow a GVWR of 7,408 lb despite a 948 lb payload even though that math mysteriously does not math: curb weight + payload should == GVWR, no?

gah.

duly returned. my first time at the Tire Rack distribution center (for the wheels), which is like 8 minutes from me, in mid-Central Park. FedEx is basically the next building over, too (for the Aerodiscs).

Busy Forks took the two wheel boxes + cover box ahead of it just fine even with only 2/3rds of the 2nd row folded.

 

[Toshi]

4 states of the cargo area on the ID.Buzz

Pulling the third row seat was trivial: one strap, lift, roll it backwards and out. It’s lighter than the second row seats in the PacHy, maybe 30 lb? (The astute reader will note that our AWD example thus has captain’s chairs so is 2 + 2 + 2, so we can’t take out both and still seat all of us.)

Also for the record, the depth of the cargo area extends along the ridged black plastic, not ending at the edge of the carpet. That last photo is looking back towards the liftgate from inside the bus.

 

[6thElement]

duly returned. my first time at the Tire Rack distribution center (for the wheels), which is like 8 minutes from me, in mid-Central Park. FedEx is basically the next building over, too (for the Aerodiscs).

Warehouse central. I picked up our steelies with Blizzak's from there years ago.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Warehouse central. I picked up our steelies with Blizzak's from there years ago.

Got some steelies with X-Ice's at that same warehouse back in 2020 for the Mazda blob.

 

[Toshi]

shall take it up to the mountains this weekend[]. I will report how much SOC is eaten up for each leg of the journey: this'll be the test that determines whether I buy out the lease or ride it out and move on after 36 months.

Denver to Tabernash this evening: 84 miles, 5,280' at the start, over an 11,306' pass, then down to 8,403' at the destination. 53% SOC burnt for this while driving normally.

It generally takes ~1/2 the outbound energy to return downhill to Denver thanks to the net elevation loss. That'd be 80% SOC total for a round trip to the house, or an estimated 70% for a roundtrip just to Mary Jane instead.

That is Good Enough™ for me.

edit: actually used 33% on the return journey. So that’d be 86-87% SOC for a round trip to/from the house. Still good enough.

(The astute reader will recall that the mountain house has a 40A JuiceBox in the garage, fueled by lovely 7 cent/kWh off-peak energy. There also exist L2 EVSE in the Winter Park Resort garage and Winter Park town garage alike, and there's a DCFC in Fraser in a pinch to boot.)

I'll thus buy out the lease—and trade the unfavorable VW lease deal money factor for 5.49% x 65 mo fixed DCU EV refinance rates—as soon as the refinance on the Denver HELOC goes through. Consolidating the balance on the mountain house HELOC and improving the overall rate while increasing my credit availability headroom, I am. Always scheming, yes!

 

[Toshi]

the cash just rolls in

gonna use this to pay for 70% of the Winter Park Resort garage parking charge tomorrow, yeah

 

[Toshi]

skied. found some powder. generally a mixed conditions/mild chop kind of day. my wife does not like such snow.

 

[Toshi]

the RZ 450e Premium thus offers a unique slot among the trio: 18"s, surround view, memory seats with heat and ventilation alike. low price options for headlight washers and wiper heaters (actually nice in snow country!), front seat leg radiant heaters that sound nice, and a digital rearview mirror that might be nice?

in conclusion: thanks to the extra 30 free Lexus-rental days perk and generous lease incentives spurred by the fact that no one else is thinking like I am, an RZ might make sense.

when this would come about would be 18 mo from now. Dec 2025. CO EV credit sunsets another step come Jan 1, 2026 and dealers have quotas to make. Nov/Dec 2025 would thus be the time to hunt out dealer inventory and craft a good deal via email.)

Awkwardly named "G580 with EQ technology" shown off. $180k or so. I'd honestly be interested in one of these in about 5 years after it's depreciated to <$50k.

edit: the unadorned mustard color one is awesome. 8:00 or so into video

an update for y'all now that my planned PacHy + ex-Land Cruiser to ID.Buzz-subsuming-both-roles transition for the family hauler spot in my garage seemingly going swimmingly:

the Busy Forks replacement will still likely be a Lexus RZ once I run out of miles on this lease, so starting to solicit quotes via email come November or December 2025. it would be a RZ 450e Premium on 18" wheels, to be specific.

but what after that?! as per my prior musings, I think it'd be amazing to pick up a Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology (what a dog of a name) once it depreciates down to $50k. maybe that timing would work out with another 24 months of kicking the can forward into the future via a 24/12 lease on that RZ.

 

[Toshi]

moment of EV Zen on Quebec St an hour or two ago:

ahead of me a Nissan Leaf and a Solterra

(me in the Busy Forks, shuttling eldest from a rehearsal)

behind me an XC40 Recharge and a Niro EV

 

[Toshi]

6" USB-C to -mini cable runs my A119 just fine. it's entirely invisible from the driver's perspective. only the top edge of the ExpressToll transponder is visible atop the mirror, in fact (and it's probably not physically possible to reach forward from the driver's seat to switch it over from HOV mode! )

found a use for that giant expanse of dashboard

it fits with enough clearance to open that giant rear hatch with the garage door closed. which is super key because it's all cold up in dem hills

took partial stock of the household's USB situation. wife and eldest have a few more bricks and cables yet that I didn't disturb for this.

goal was to come up with shorter/more manageable cables for the multi-device charging nook in the kitchen, and to rustle up appropriate cables for charging our various devices from the USB-C ports throughout the new bus, er, "neuer bus." accomplished both without having to buy any new cables. as one would hope given how many I already had.

everything all re-bagged and -labeled now. put all but 3 micro-USB cables in the Ridwell electronics recycling bag, and only saved one or two -mini cables as well. ain't nobody got time for those devices. kept all the Lightning and -C cables.

 

[Nick]

skied. found some powder. generally a mixed conditions/mild chop kind of day. my wife does not like such snow.

View attachment 224625

Looks pretty awesome to me!
(I skied trees on the Jane side for hours yesterday, once again need to think to text you when I’m heading up there)

 

[Toshi]

Looks pretty awesome to me!
(I skied trees on the Jane side for hours yesterday, once again need to think to text you when I’m heading up there)

my photo was from the Tweedle Dum trees off of Looking Glass. those were pretty good except for the one log that got me off balance enough that I toppled upper body first into a stash of powder, losing a pole temporarily. head never submerged but definitely some tree well-type mechanics going on there...

where were you skiing off Mary Jane? we never made it over to that side: wife was happy trying to figure out how to ski on the snow on March Hare and Cranmer, and eldest kid and I snuck off for Tweedle Dum + Outrigger tree laps here and there when she wasn't freezing cold.

 

[Nick]

where were you skiing off Mary Jane?

Pine cliffs > trees between Riflesight & Sleeper mostly, over and over. Trying to get comfortable to try and keep up with the girl

 

[Toshi]

Tire Rack credited me the full price of the ordered-ultimately-due-to-my-error Rotiforms. no piece taken out from it for shipping fees.

will ultimately only be out FedEx shipping x 1 pretty light box for the AeroDiscs for my error. (and the Pirelli Scorpion Winters that Les Schwab had available immediately and which I thus went with ended up a few hundred cheaper overall than the Nokian Hakka R5 EVs would have been through Discount Tire. and I didn't wait at the latter for 3 hours or whatever, either.)

so a loss in that I will not have awesome looking AeroDisc action. but a win otherwise. the Pirellis are a touch slippy on snow but certainly worlds better than I'd imagine 235/50R20 + 265/45R20 all-seasons to be on the same. stupid big tires.

 

[Toshi]

status update, 7/17 edition

status update, Jan 2025 edition

1) saving up for 2025 Japan trip
all done. bought plane tix (business class return leg as promised) and booked all hotels save for Tokyo Disney which must wait until closer to the date when they're made available. also must wait until JR Passes are on sale a month before arrival date, and then that'll cover the vast majority of trip expenses save for food and souvenirs and the like.

I'll have to dip slightly into my slush fund (which is sitting pretty at $104k even after shaving some market gains off the top, thanks O'Biden!) but then again this is precisely why I saved up this money in the first place.

2) house hail damage claim
finally done. didn't do standing seam metal, only class 4 asphalt shingles. got house repainted and fence and shed stained for the first time. got quotes for a new carrier but no one else will touch us now as we're a hot potato with the (necessary and warranted) claim and all.

3) Land Cruiser hail damage claim, 4) commuter bike 29er conversion, 5) mountain house deck reinforcement project, 6) hot tub swap for swim spa project, 7) mountain house extra heat pump zone
done.

8) project Electrify the Cars
as you may have noticed we got the ID.Buzz! locked in 2024 CO tax credit + Dec 2024 VW incentives (that assumed the IRA's existence). I'm going to buy out the lease later in the month, probably when my 2024 W-2 comes available, after the Denver HELOC refi goes through.

9) research projects for work
ended up with 3 papers and 2 abstracts with my name on them. and co-investigator on a $75k pilot grant. and I have a med student doing research work for me that'll turn into a project and paper or two in the next years. so despite not having done that much myself I look good on paper for my annual review so sitting pretty I am.

10) music stuff
played a few concerts, took two concerts off. shall get back into it for the March and May concert series.

11) work investigation
this just disappeared from the radar completely, so assume it all got resolved behind the scenes.

12) reading for fun and profit
read a ton through the end of the year. lots of David Weber in the latter months. I like his Honorverse world.

13) debt update
since July I've hacked away about $78k in principal/in adding to my slush fund on my sundry debts after accounting for the new debt from the ID.Buzz (balanced by what I expect to sell the PacHy for, which I might get done this week).

~$1,600 less monthly cash burn on servicing these debts, and this will get a bit better yet later this month as do yet another financial dance move: I'm refinancing my Denver HELOC. same company. rate will be 0.25% higher (going from prime - 0.76% to prime - 0.51%) but in exchange will have $100k extra credit line.

this in turn will let me zero out the balance on the mountain house HELOC (all these HELOC balances from the mountain house renovation, of course), which is good since that's an unfavorable prime + 1.3% rate. so I'll have lower interest fees overall even with the same balance.

so I've bitched here before how my wife has an education degree and a masters yet has been working as a teacher's aide in the younger kids' preschool, and how this job seems to sap all excess energy from her (and then some).

well, she laid the groundwork for going to work as a legit full-blown teacher over this summer by taking the Praxis exams. apparently that's all she needed to do, 4 of them, all passed on the first try after some weeks of studying from books. but she said that for logistics and familiarity with this school she wouldn't want to work anywhere but at the kids' elementary.

turns out one of the 1st grade teachers, new this year, hasn't had a great time with it. said 1st grade teacher is thus quitting mid year, effective next month. the principal of the school, aware of my wife's desire to teach elementary there, has reached out to her as their first, internal choice. thus my wife shall be doing a long term sub gig in the 1st grade classroom until winter break, at which time she'll make up her own mind of whether this is something she wants to segue into as the official classroom teacher and all.

this is a positive thing, finally working with the benefit of her actual degrees (which are unrelated to early education in particular but count in the tally), and finally to make more money than the 401(k)/403(b) annual employee contribution limit. which she hasn't been to this point.


update: she decided to jump in with both feet come Nov and just accept it outright. might as well get paid for the real job if the real job is what she's going to do.

and an update on the above: my wife started teaching 1st grade at the younger two kids' school full time in November. and she's doing well with it. lots of lesson planning time in the evening at home but that'll be better in future years, and she's happier doing this.

so far the promised pay bump has not really resulted in actual money in our account, though. I think they messed up her pay calculations when she made the role transition. it'll get sorted out and will be nice when it hits as compared to getting like $24 per pay period after her 403(b) contribution

 

[Toshi]

might get a bit more than I was expecting for the PacHy if I'm willing to drive across town and potentially be dicked around by in-person appraisers and the like.

I'll head down Wednesday (to Autonation as they seem more legit than this Greenwood outfit)--just sacrificing a cold mid-day mountain bike ride planned amidst other errands and then I can close the door on this car.

 

[Toshi]

@Nick

You Can Still Buy An Air-Cooled Porsche 911 For The Price Of A New Miata - The Autopian

Given up on the dream of an air-cooled Porsche? Some Targa-topped 911 SC examples might still be within reach.

www.theautopian.com

 

[Nick]

@Nick

You Can Still Buy An Air-Cooled Porsche 911 For The Price Of A New Miata - The Autopian

Given up on the dream of an air-cooled Porsche? Some Targa-topped 911 SC examples might still be within reach.

www.theautopian.com

So as much fun as having a 993 or 930 would be, no. Nothing wrong with the Targa, but I’d be more inclined to spend on a 718 spyder than a new 911. 4 liter, manual gearbox, yes please.

 

[Toshi]

might get a bit more than I was expecting for the PacHy if I'm willing to drive across town and potentially be dicked around by in-person appraisers and the like.

I'll head down Wednesday (to Autonation as they seem more legit than this Greenwood outfit)--just sacrificing a cold mid-day mountain bike ride planned amidst other errands and then I can close the door on this car.

View attachment 224714

View attachment 224713

Settled for $20k after the in person appraisal. Good enough.

 

[Toshi]

other developments I got the PacHy appraised today. CarMax appraisal was in person/definite. the others were online only with best-guess condition assessments.

as context for these numbers I paid $52,860.18 for this 2019 model year PacHy in November 2018, sales tax and title but not specific ownership tax/registration included. then I got $7,500 Fed and $6,000 CO for it at that tax year's filing: net cost $39,360.18.

if I can get, say, $21k for it private party then that'd be a depreciation of $3,060 per year, or $255/mo. in terms of miles traveled that'd be 29 cents/mi in depreciation (again including tax/title).

Sold for $20k. So $261/mo in depreciation, or 30 cents/mi.

 

[Toshi]

Still here. At least I just signed the stack of paperwork. One of their shop techs will give me a ride home. Going to drop it off my insurance now—it’s legally sold now.