garthD

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Everything posted by garthD

  1. I've never had the flu and rarely been ill before, but it seems that up to 50 or 60 percent of the population could become infected this year compared to 5-20 percent with the normal seasonal flu. Combine these numbers with a reported effectiveness of up to 90 percent for the shot and that's reason enough for me. Yes I'm aware of the preservatives and adjuvants, but I will be getting one shot of the stuff and not shooting up twice a day like a junkie so I'm not too concerned about poisoning myself with the toxins. I've already seen a few people come down with the swine flu in recent weeks, and it wasn't a pretty thing. 2 weeks seems to be about the average time they were off work. As I work in busy university library filled with germy books, students, and computers and I regularly ride subways and buses, I'm assuming my chances of also getting ill are fairly high. The only real concern for me is that the shots might arrive too late and that the pandemic may peak before we have all had the chance to get the shot...it doesn't take effect for about two weeks, plus we might not be able to get the shots until mid December...by then large numbers of us could already be ill. The bottom line is that, as I'm heading to Europe in January, I hope that I've either already been sick by then or have had the shot, as I really don't want my holiday ruined...
  2. Yes, I seem to be seeing more and more smarts on used lots these days. I think that the government and dealer incentives to buy new vehicles have hurt the used market across the board. Maybe the fact that smarts haven't been aging very well in our climate, might also be discouraging buyers... Wasn't it just last year that stats showed that the 450 smart was in the top 10 for retaining value??
  3. I really get annoyed reading most of these reviews. It's just so idiotic to criticize a 2 seater for having only 2 seats. You don't get a bloody 2 seater to move the entire family! Would hate to see his bicycle reviews...
  4. Actually doesn't sound too bad when shifting with the engine off. No squeaking, just a clicking sound...the shift up is slightly louder than down, but It doesn't seem too bad.Got a chance to listen closer to the whining sound today (as my wife driven the car the past couple of days) and the noise actually appears to happen just as the car is accelerating close to a shift point (and stops after the shift), but does not seem to be caused by the shift itself. Maybe it is a worn or slipping belt causing the problem...I'll get them to check the belts and actuator on Monday. cheers, garth
  5. Thanks guys. When I first heard the sound, I thought it was a belt too but I think you are right about the clutch actuator. I'll try to lube it and then have them inspect on Monday.cheers,garth
  6. This guy is a moron, but I'd actually like to see stats on the actual breakdown of male/female primary drivers of smart cars. Based on this forum, I'd say males were in the majority but that probably isn't a good indicator to use for determining real world numbers...garth
  7. Yeah, I'd never heard that term (in that context) before either. Some sort of system for ownership in multi-unit dwellings. According to wikipedia, it originated in Australia and is only used in BC within Canada. Learn something everyday...BC people, how long has this been around?cheersgarth
  8. I found a thread on a German forum discussing the same thing...not too much insight though. Hopefully, this links to the translation... link
  9. When I order from the States, I always use USPS and I find I get dinged about half the time. When ordering from the UK, I go with Royal Mail and find that I only get customs charges on about 1 in 10 packages. Not sure why the huge discrepancy...garth
  10. Is it actually a ticket from the Toronto Parking Authority, or was it from the Municipal Parking Authority (a private company)? Check this link.. http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/new...-the-real-thing cheers garth
  11. We are about $1300 for the smart. Both drivers are over 25, but the secondary driver has less than 5 years experience. We drive about 15000 km per year, and use PC insurance. We noticed a huge difference between insurance companies, so shop around.garth
  12. I'm getting a rattling sound coming from my front end (passenger wheel, I think) when I'm drving at a very low speed....usually just before coming to a stop or just as I take off. I'm assuming that I have a delaminated break pad. Car is at about 46K and breaks have never been done. What's the normal symptoms of delamination? The car is still breaking fine, and I'm not hearing any weird noises when drving at normal city or highway speeds.cheers,garth
  13. Yeah, electric for me too. I just hope they make one that can really stand up to the Canadian climate...
  14. Well I had the car in at Victoria Star to get my handful of problems taken care of and I'm happy to report they they found the source of my very intermittent fuel leak. Seems injector #3 was leaking at very high revs. They put in a new o-ring and it still leaked so they popped in a new injector and the problem was solved. They thought the old injector might have been cracked. Covered under warranty.As for the rattling noise at low speed, the service advisor heard it right away when he moved my car, and he commented that he hadn't heard a sound like that coming from a smart before. Anyway, they put it up on the hoist and and found everything in the front end was nice and tight and no delaminated break pads. They then took it for a spin so they could listen to the noise again, and they couldn't hear a thing. I drove the car around for an hour this evening and couldn't hear the noise anymore either so I'm not sure why it is gone...over the past few days it had been very easy to reproduce the noise....I'll have to keep my ears open...Anyway, nice quick service from Victoria Star...I was glad they had the injector in stock. They also replaced my rear washer nozzle for the 2nd time...anyone else having problems with this???cheers,garth
  15. Hope everyone is OK. Where did it happen Karen? I know the city has a few white pures...garth
  16. Yeah I know, but I'm not certain that the pads are the issue and as I have to put it in for another 1/2 dozen problems anyway, it can become their 10 minute repair...
  17. Yes, it was an "A" service in April. My last "B" service was in January of this year. Just looking at the invoice for the "B" now. I had the right and left lower ball joints replaced during that service but no indication of problems with the the breaks. Noise just became noticeable on the weekend.I'm going to make an appointment and put it in to get fixed...I'll just add it to the laundry list of recent problems to fix....driver's handle/lock needs replaced and/or adjusted, rear washer nozzle has just broke for 2nd time, fuel leaking at highway speeds (small leak...injector issue, I think), and the front rattle. Never bloody ends...cheers,garth
  18. I had the car in for a normal service and to get the winter tires off sometime in April...they didn't mention anything about the breaks at the time.cheers,garth
  19. Wow! If TC initiate a recall, what would happen to people like Duck who have already had to pay for air bag repairs? Would MB be forced to reimburse? If not forced, you would think they would at least do it as a good will measure?garth
  20. I picked-up something like this off of e-bay a couple of years ago for a reasonable price... http://www.evilution.co.uk/smartexterior/axles/caps.jpg garth
  21. Two bags are no problem as long as the bags aren't huge and don't have carts...our bags are medium in size and have the folding legs and fit quite easily. I use towels too...cheers
  22. I had a problem with the gauge misreading that began last year just as winter was starting. Merecedes said that replacing the fuel pump might help...it didn't. Problem didn't fix itelf until after I'd had 2 or 3 tanks of summer fuel once the tempertaures warmed up. I think the cold temperatures and winter fuel just "gummed" things up for me...garth
  23. I'm starting to see a little rust at carpet level on my driver side seat. I try to keep the slush to a minimum inside the car, but I guess the salt has started to work its magic after 3 winters. Anyone else finding this? Any easy ways to halt this? Tremclad or that sort of thing? Would something like this be covered under the rust warranty (44k on the car and still under warranty).cheersgarth
  24. Yes! A Prince Albert would also be acceptable.Won't be too long until the Venomous One and the Cons are out of power and either the Libs, New Dems, or Greens (or perhaps a coalition of the 3 backed by the BQ...more stirring...)introduce a similar motion.
  25. Don't know how/why you are equating unnecessary marketing/rebranding claptrap to an environmental assessment...apples and oranges.BTW, I'm a huge supporter of the Waterloo Regional Rapid Transit plan.