Mableton ga car dealers

Hi guys,
I'm looking to replace the (cabin) air filters on my IS200. After getting some comments on here (thanks) I decided to not go with a K&N filter. However I'm wondering what exactly OEM means when people are suggesting it. When I look up the parts number I'm seeing a lot of no-name brands of which the filter looks the exact same as the one that's in my car. I've also found one by Bosch selling for 13 compared to 6-8 for the no-name ones. I can't find one that's actually sold by a Toyota/Lexus dealer.
Will these filters suffice? What would a garage put in if I let them change it? I'm currently considering the Bosche since it's a brand I know and it's not that much more expensive

Hi! Please go easy on me if this is a stupid question, car maintenance is not my forte.
Bought a car at the beginning of February from an RAC approved dealer who serviced and MOTd it (with no advisories) just before I bought it. The car came with an RAC warranty but this didn’t include brake pads (among other things).
Last night a warning message popped up on the screen of my car saying the brake pads need to be replaced. It’s just under 2 months since I bought it. Would you expect this to have been picked up at the service/MOT? Or is it feasible that the brake pads were fine when I bought it and have just worn out since the beginning of February? Not sure whether this is something I should be asking the dealer to fix or just something that I have to deal with myself.

Hi team!
Long time lurker, first time poster in need of some help on my first major car purchase :)
TLDR would you buy a used car from a dealer if the timing chain was damaged (circa 140 k km) and the dealer was fixing it prior to delivery?
Last weekend I test drove a used 4wd (land rover freelander 2 2014 model) at our local dealership. It has about 130k on the clock and otherwise looks in good condition.
Before I got into the car the dealer told me it had just come in and hadnt been checked yet. He told us it was idling a little funny and would need to be checked by the mechanics, serviced etc prior to sale.
We liked the car so put a refundable deposit on it, conditional on the idling issue being fixed. He came back to us today and said the issue is a damaged (but not broken) timing chain. He gave us the option of them fixing it or us backing out.
I should also mention that the car is also under a statutory (not dealer) warranty for the next 3 months or 5000 km (in Australia there are statutory protections for used car purchases that mean the dealer has to rectify any issues which show up in the first 3 months).
So I guess my question is would you still buy the car (subject to repair) and then take it to your mechanic to get everything else checked, or is a failing timing chain a sign that somthing else is likely to be wrong with the cait hasn't been serviced regularly?
I know that when the chains snap they can damage the engine or cause misfiring, but i am not sure if there is an issue with one which is damaged but has not broken yet....and the articles i have read are not super clear!!
any advice would be greatly appreciated :D

A pair of leaks have turned up on 4Chan that claim to outline details of Rockstar's forthcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. Fans of the franchise would do well to take these rumors with a grain of salt as there's no way to know for sure if any of these details are accurate. The leaker on 4Chan goes by Rhanadeng and claims to have been a friend of a disgruntled employee working on the game during 2019.
The source claims that this employee allegedly asked him to anonymously leak information about GTA 6. However, things later improved, and he lost contact with the Rockstar team member. One key detail is that this person also claims the game has been in active development since 2016 or 2017, with pre-production starting shortly after GTA V was ported to current generation consoles in 2014. The new GTA VI game world map is also claimed to be the size of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined.
gta v mission One of the odder bits that this 4Chan user details is a minigame where players control a stream of urine from a protagonist using motion controls. On the protagonist front, there are said to be four in the game, including a driver called Walther Wallace and an unnamed former Israeli IDF person. Another, Thomas Branigan, is a smuggler who owns an aircraft called the Raven, and Marcus Burke is a drug dealer and father to a young boy.
The area is said to be based in Florida, with Vice City among the three major cities with one smaller city in the far northwest of the map. The game reportedly jumps around in time with part of the timeline set in the 1980s and other parts set in the present day. Missions aren't as linear as they are in GTA V or RDR2, notes the proclaimed leaker. Players will briefly visit a small central American island, but it's reportedly not Guarma. The game starts with gamers playing the role of smuggler, Branigan.
gta v car Supposedly there are multiple child characters in the game that mainly interact with Burke and his son. Switching between the protagonists isn't said to be instantaneous, but the camera reportedly zooms out and travels quickly to where the protagonist the player wants to play is located. Sleeping Dogs-inspired parkour is involved in the game as well, but to a lesser extent without wall running. The leaker claims that weapons function more realistically in the game than they have in past titles. An example noted is rocket launcher back blast that ends up taking out an NPC in one of the missions, where the goal is to destroy a helicopter.
Hand-to-hand combat is supported and is said to be similar to Red Dead 2, with the leaker noting it's harder to fight hand-to-hand GTA VI than in GTA V. Player characters can also gain weight in the game, and it affects character attributes as it did in RDR2. Mori Kibbutz is also reportedly in the game, but not much else is detailed about his character.
This leak isn't the first that has surfaced about GTA 6. Last December, a user on reddit claiming to be a beta tester, leaked a bunch of alleged details of the game. In January, another leak claimed that the game would launch in 2021.

A pair of leaks have turned up on 4Chan that claim to outline details of Rockstar's forthcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. Fans of the franchise would do well to take these rumors with a grain of salt as there's no way to know for sure if any of these details are accurate. The leaker on 4Chan goes by Rhanadeng and claims to have been a friend of a disgruntled employee working on the game during 2019.
The source claims that this employee allegedly asked him to anonymously leak information about GTA 6. However, things later improved, and he lost contact with the Rockstar team member. One key detail is that this person also claims the game has been in active development since 2016 or 2017, with pre-production starting shortly after GTA V was ported to current generation consoles in 2014. The new GTA VI game world map is also claimed to be the size of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined.
gta v mission One of the odder bits that this 4Chan user details is a minigame where players control a stream of urine from a protagonist using motion controls. On the protagonist front, there are said to be four in the game, including a driver called Walther Wallace and an unnamed former Israeli IDF person. Another, Thomas Branigan, is a smuggler who owns an aircraft called the Raven, and Marcus Burke is a drug dealer and father to a young boy.
The area is said to be based in Florida, with Vice City among the three major cities with one smaller city in the far northwest of the map. The game reportedly jumps around in time with part of the timeline set in the 1980s and other parts set in the present day. Missions aren't as linear as they are in GTA V or RDR2, notes the proclaimed leaker. Players will briefly visit a small central American island, but it's reportedly not Guarma. The game starts with gamers playing the role of smuggler, Branigan.
gta v car Supposedly there are multiple child characters in the game that mainly interact with Burke and his son. Switching between the protagonists isn't said to be instantaneous, but the camera reportedly zooms out and travels quickly to where the protagonist the player wants to play is located. Sleeping Dogs-inspired parkour is involved in the game as well, but to a lesser extent without wall running. The leaker claims that weapons function more realistically in the game than they have in past titles. An example noted is rocket launcher back blast that ends up taking out an NPC in one of the missions, where the goal is to destroy a helicopter.
Hand-to-hand combat is supported and is said to be similar to Red Dead 2, with the leaker noting it's harder to fight hand-to-hand GTA VI than in GTA V. Player characters can also gain weight in the game, and it affects character attributes as it did in RDR2. Mori Kibbutz is also reportedly in the game, but not much else is detailed about his character.
This leak isn't the first that has surfaced about GTA 6. Last December, a user on reddit claiming to be a beta tester, leaked a bunch of alleged details of the game. In January, another leak claimed that the game would launch in 2021.

I drive a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze LT, and it's got just over 31,500 miles on it. Outside of some minor cosmetic things that would require a basic wipe down and vacuum in the interior, and washing a thin layer of mud off of it, the vehicle is in perfectly good shape.
Now, that said, there are two vehicles I'm currently looking at, as I'm trying to basically do a 1 to 1 trade.
The first vehicle is priced at $12,995, and is a 2017 VW Passat SE 6A. It's got an all leather interior, heated seats, pushbutton start, sunroof, (new) Cooper all season tires, brand new windshield, new brakes, and as far as I can tell, the vehicle has been kept in near pristine condition outside of those replacements. The vehicle also seems to have a clean record, with no accidents, no theft/illegal activity reported, and only one previous owner. The only catch is that it's currently sitting at around 145,000 miles driven.
The dealer has literally been trying to sell this specific vehicle for almost a year now. The earliest records I can find of it being for sale (other than from the factory, to the original owner) was April of 2022. It's kind of worrying, but for the life of me I can't find anything wrong with it yet other than the miles being as high as they are. This dealer's been pretty... inconsistent, when it comes to our arrangement, though. He approved of a 1 to 1 trade, but told me the we should both run some numbers and do some more research, and talk about it on Monday. Good thing he told me to, because I realized that my car was worth a ton of money in trade-in value, and the MSRP was (obviously) higher than that. Once I brought up that I saw how the price range was looking, he went from not remembering a thing about my vehicle to knowing that he needed to do a whole bunch to the car, and refused to accept me getting it checked out anywhere else, and was trying to deduct the cost of his 'repairs' from the lowest possible estimate on a spectrum that was shown on a site with the lowest estimate for trade-in value that I've seen, though even then, it wasn't fully accurate based on the actual condition of my car. In other words, it got shady.
Anyway, I'm here for cars lol.
So the next car is a 2015 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L SE. It's.... pretty much just that. It's comfy, it's been well taken care of, new brakes, and... that's it. It's just a pretty standard, comfy, reliable looking car. The gas pedal could do with some adjusting imo, but that could just be a preference thing. This dealer wanted to compete with the other one I had mentioned (thank goodness), and offered me a $13k check for my car, or $14,000 in trade-in, which would line up nearly perfectly with the car I was looking at, since it was going for exactly that much, minus the obvious DMV fees and the like, which they'd ask that I cover if I take that deal.
Do either of these deals seem practical? Should I wait and hope prices drop? I know my car is worth more in trade-in value than dealerships I've visited (so far) are willing to give me, these two just happen to be less blatant in trying to lowball me. Also, as far as the Passat goes, I'm very curious about that one, since it's both cheaper and nicer, so any insight on that would certainly be appreciated.
Also, I just wanted to edit this so that people know that I understand the differences between pricing models, things like wholesale, trade-in, cash sale, MSRP, etc. and I know that obviously dealers aren't necessarily going to pay top dollar, but so far, there's been a pretty enormous gap lol. I know they have to make their money back, too, but I wanted to include this in case someone read through the post and got the impression that I was approaching this without having done research into how these things work and why.
Oh, edit number 2: for more context on my vehicle, it's also got bonus packages installed from when it was made in the factory, those being the convenience package and the RS package.

I just posted this about 30 min ago, but the post is now gone. Did it get deleted by mods? Apologies if this is against the rules?
I just bought a new (used) car from dealer in the east bay they did not provide me with any temp paper plates. Reading up on CA Ab 516, it’s not clear to me if I’m in the wrong or not. The original front and rear plates on still on there but are expired. They did however tape a folded piece of paper (what I’m assuming to be proof of transaction or TOP?) to the front windshield. Will this suffice? Am I going to get pulled over? Do the original plate just transfer over to me and all I’m waiting for is the stickers? Who will the San Mateo bridge toll fee go to? I’m so confused. Please advise, thanks in advance!

Looking to get a GR86 (previous 15 brz and 17 wrx owner, got them both near invoice).
My wrx got rear ended 1.5 years ago, and the car shortage only grew worse directly after so I’ve been waiting it out. New wrx just doesn’t feel right, and I don’t want to buy a used wrx. I’ve been actively looking for msrp on this car (gr86) and it’s proven to be very difficult. I found a dealer that has a non negotiable 2k markup, car arrives at the end of the month so I’m wondering what the average markup people are paying is right now. Shopping for the car in So Cal.
I’m still going to try and haggle, but just wondering of other’s experiences.
Thanks

I mean Jonathan is being such a doormat for Denise who was a drug dealer and whose father stole his car and she doesn't even properly apologise.

Local used car dealer is somehow rolling back miles on cars and doing shady title work for years.. a tipsy friend/employee confessed this to me (a certified marine mechanic) and said they make all employees sign something so they are not to talk about this. As a mechanic I’m very pissed and feel I need to report this to someone.. police are worthless these days any other recommendations?

A pair of leaks have turned up on 4Chan that claim to outline details of Rockstar's forthcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. Fans of the franchise would do well to take these rumors with a grain of salt as there's no way to know for sure if any of these details are accurate. The leaker on 4Chan goes by Rhanadeng and claims to have been a friend of a disgruntled employee working on the game during 2019.
The source claims that this employee allegedly asked him to anonymously leak information about GTA 6. However, things later improved, and he lost contact with the Rockstar team member. One key detail is that this person also claims the game has been in active development since 2016 or 2017, with pre-production starting shortly after GTA V was ported to current generation consoles in 2014. The new GTA VI game world map is also claimed to be the size of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined.
gta v mission One of the odder bits that this 4Chan user details is a minigame where players control a stream of urine from a protagonist using motion controls. On the protagonist front, there are said to be four in the game, including a driver called Walther Wallace and an unnamed former Israeli IDF person. Another, Thomas Branigan, is a smuggler who owns an aircraft called the Raven, and Marcus Burke is a drug dealer and father to a young boy.
The area is said to be based in Florida, with Vice City among the three major cities with one smaller city in the far northwest of the map. The game reportedly jumps around in time with part of the timeline set in the 1980s and other parts set in the present day. Missions aren't as linear as they are in GTA V or RDR2, notes the proclaimed leaker. Players will briefly visit a small central American island, but it's reportedly not Guarma. The game starts with gamers playing the role of smuggler, Branigan.
gta v car Supposedly there are multiple child characters in the game that mainly interact with Burke and his son. Switching between the protagonists isn't said to be instantaneous, but the camera reportedly zooms out and travels quickly to where the protagonist the player wants to play is located. Sleeping Dogs-inspired parkour is involved in the game as well, but to a lesser extent without wall running. The leaker claims that weapons function more realistically in the game than they have in past titles. An example noted is rocket launcher back blast that ends up taking out an NPC in one of the missions, where the goal is to destroy a helicopter.
Hand-to-hand combat is supported and is said to be similar to Red Dead 2, with the leaker noting it's harder to fight hand-to-hand GTA VI than in GTA V. Player characters can also gain weight in the game, and it affects character attributes as it did in RDR2. Mori Kibbutz is also reportedly in the game, but not much else is detailed about his character.
This leak isn't the first that has surfaced about GTA 6. Last December, a user on reddit claiming to be a beta tester, leaked a bunch of alleged details of the game. In January, another leak claimed that the game would launch in 2021.

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Get a pick up request for a certain medical plaza - the one where the homeless shelter guy was from, last week, The one ”at the dentist”
This time it’s a 58F; quirky but well dressed, with groceries. She talks a lot. A real lot (just like her compatriot). Basically, she just came out of the methadone clinic (not the dentist) which paid her $20 for being not-on-street-drugs (after 30 years of them and associated homelessness). Like the other homeless shelter person, she has a lifetime of stories to tell (the poor uber driver). The previous driver to me refused to take her…(to the transitional living house 10 miles away). The pull of the drugs is strong, since that 20….now just ”has to find a home” (in the American drug dealer’s hands).
Now I understand more of the semi-truths the previous homeless-shelter ride told… (to maintain a basic self-respect). He’d been to the drug-test place too, which conditions various social programs. At least he wanted a stop (out of protocol) at the Indian tribe smoke shop (not the drug corner); though perhaps I’m being dis-ingenuous.
Later that same day (today), some rider-guy gets in the car, in the pouring rain, wearing few suitable clothes. Weird, but… “I Just had a stressful night”, he says (to the poor uber driver). “Was in jail.” Uh ph.. (thinks the uber driver). On a phone call with (soon to be ex) wife, as they start to separate, he admits he relapsed (and took some hard drug, after 15 drug free years, after some long term prison sentence), got arrested, and is now facing 1-5 years prison, anew - on the provisional charge sheet. He is very focussed and reasonably balanced on/at his options (and on not going back-there, knowing the drug culture got to him again). He first has to go back to the casino resort/hotel, where is he now banned of course, to pickup his stuff, keys, truck…. and his “new“ life. Tomorrow, he goes to drug court…(and its monitoring program, presumably “at the dentist” in that plaza). 5 others who seem to be in the drug user gang are toast, I feel - given how the conversation became increasingly ominous.
As he exits the vehicle, under the eye of the casino/resort security guard, literally a woman gets in; revolving door style. Who are you!!??!! (It’s just my next ride). So focussed was I on “managing“ mr jail-last-night (v stressed, but focussed, with ever more ominous tones to his voice), I’m flustered and unprepared for the next ride (not realizing it was that rarest of rides - the same-place drop-off/pickup case). Fortunately, it’s a 1 mile trip; and we are rid of her quick; as I vent and regain my composure.
Then… it’s off at 15:50 to THAT 7-11. The one next to the jail (guess which one!!); and little else. So where are we going? I ask (as part of my usual id protocol) to the 17 year old type.. Oh I just did community service (says the juvenile offender). NO! Where are you going (not where did you come from)?! (He is still flustered from serving his sentence for…. guess what! American drug taking.)
While there is endless demand, there will be endless supply.

A pair of leaks have turned up on 4Chan that claim to outline details of Rockstar's forthcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. Fans of the franchise would do well to take these rumors with a grain of salt as there's no way to know for sure if any of these details are accurate. The leaker on 4Chan goes by Rhanadeng and claims to have been a friend of a disgruntled employee working on the game during 2019.
The source claims that this employee allegedly asked him to anonymously leak information about GTA 6. However, things later improved, and he lost contact with the Rockstar team member. One key detail is that this person also claims the game has been in active development since 2016 or 2017, with pre-production starting shortly after GTA V was ported to current generation consoles in 2014. The new GTA VI game world map is also claimed to be the size of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 combined.
gta v mission One of the odder bits that this 4Chan user details is a minigame where players control a stream of urine from a protagonist using motion controls. On the protagonist front, there are said to be four in the game, including a driver called Walther Wallace and an unnamed former Israeli IDF person. Another, Thomas Branigan, is a smuggler who owns an aircraft called the Raven, and Marcus Burke is a drug dealer and father to a young boy.
The area is said to be based in Florida, with Vice City among the three major cities with one smaller city in the far northwest of the map. The game reportedly jumps around in time with part of the timeline set in the 1980s and other parts set in the present day. Missions aren't as linear as they are in GTA V or RDR2, notes the proclaimed leaker. Players will briefly visit a small central American island, but it's reportedly not Guarma. The game starts with gamers playing the role of smuggler, Branigan.
gta v car Supposedly there are multiple child characters in the game that mainly interact with Burke and his son. Switching between the protagonists isn't said to be instantaneous, but the camera reportedly zooms out and travels quickly to where the protagonist the player wants to play is located. Sleeping Dogs-inspired parkour is involved in the game as well, but to a lesser extent without wall running. The leaker claims that weapons function more realistically in the game than they have in past titles. An example noted is rocket launcher back blast that ends up taking out an NPC in one of the missions, where the goal is to destroy a helicopter.
Hand-to-hand combat is supported and is said to be similar to Red Dead 2, with the leaker noting it's harder to fight hand-to-hand GTA VI than in GTA V. Player characters can also gain weight in the game, and it affects character attributes as it did in RDR2. Mori Kibbutz is also reportedly in the game, but not much else is detailed about his character.
This leak isn't the first that has surfaced about GTA 6. Last December, a user on reddit claiming to be a beta tester, leaked a bunch of alleged details of the game. In January, another leak claimed that the game would launch in 2021.

Looking at buying an R1T from a local dealer. Low miles and good price. Certainly will get the Car reports but what happens to the original warranty of the car? Does it go with the car or is it offered only to the owner that took delivery straight from Rivian?

I used to think success was driving down a beach-front highway having to choose between breathing in the new car smell from your convertible, or putting the top down for some salt air.
1 week ago, I had neither of those choices and today the very thought of beach air and new car smell makes me fucking sick.
Before I get into this, let me be clear: this is not a confession of guilt for anything I’ve done. I never wanted all this shit. From the very start it was only about one thing: Getting my son, James a birthday present.
I wasn’t even trying to get him the BEST or the BIGGEST or the most EXPENSIVE birthday present. Just
A present. The present I set out to get.
But instead...
I went to the 7/11 on Santa Monica and bought a MegaMillions lotto ticket.
My name is Daniel Baxter, and this is the day I thought I won the lottery.
​
April 8, 2022 – 2:03AM
It’s 2 o’clock in the morning and I’m at the Hollywood Casino. I’ve got every penny to my name spread across the craps table and some dickhead on his bachelor party holds the dice of fate in his clammy little hands.
My last 3 meals have been from discarded room service trays at LAX Hilton, my truck doesn’t start without a prayer and the tires have been leaking air for the last month which is fine because now I know the location of every free air filling station in LA County.
If I’d paid my phone bill, it’d be buzzing a crater in my leg from my ex, Lenora, asking if I’d picked up our son’s birthday gift with the $200 she gave me.
“Gave me” isn’t quite the right term. She handed it to me with a scowl then told me “if you gamble this shit you’ll never fucking see him again.” Things had been tense lately.
But none of that matters because this guy’s been hot and it’s with his help that I’ve turned that 200 hundred into almost 3 grand. The only question is; are the rhythms with me or not?
Maybe you call it God. Maybe you call it Karma or the natural vibe of the earth or mercury or whatever. When the rhythms are on, everything goes your way. You crush your yearly review at work and get the raise you’re after or you’re at some party and you’ve got everyone eating outta the palm of your hand.
Most things are math. Craps is math. Poker is math. Phone bills are math. Divorce rates are math and if I keep having to eat off of room service trays, the likelihood of me waking up with diarrhea is math.
It’s all just probability. But when the rhythms are on, the probability doesn’t matter. You could take a 1 and a million shot back-to-back and hit it twice. That’s what the rhythm can do for you.
Summer of 2018 I was up over 2 million. I couldn’t lose a hand of blackjack, I couldn’t crap out if I tried, I couldn’t say the wrong thing to Lenora and every time I walked into the room my son, James, would light up like a fucking lantern.
It used to be me and Lenora at the tables. The place was always open, the food is fine and the drinks are free. If we weren’t at the tables we were in the lounge talking Black Jack strategy or in the bar talking game theory or hanging out at the slots like a couple’a mice pressing a button and waiting for the cheese to pop out.
Sometimes it’s nice to be a mouse. I’ve got rats in my house. They don’t pay rent or go food shopping. All they have to do is avoid eating a piece of death cheese or poison and honestly that’s not too far off from how I live anyways.
When we had James, things changed though. As Lenora put it “risking your son’s dinner isn’t chasing something it’s chasing nothing.” And I guess the 45-minute commute to the Hollywood wasn’t a valuable use of her time. Lots of people commute to work even longer. When I was working at Goldman, I commuted an hour and a half each way from Connecticut. Granted I was on a train but the point is we all commute to work.
It was nice having her here. It was nice seeing James with a smile. It was nice to check my bank account and feel a life raft around me, rather than a black hole forming in my bellybutton.
But the rhythms shifted.
Now it’s just me here next to Lenny with the beard, Jackie with the cigar and Jonie who’s been serving drinks here so long her face should be on the highway billboards. After Lenora broke it off with me she got together with Kelton who works for a hedge fund which (for the record) is still gambling. He’s just doing it with other people’s money.
James’ 9th birthday is three days away. He wants an iPad and soon as I cash out, I’ll be able to pick one up, maybe kick some back to Lenora and spread some cash around to the litany of people I’m on the hook to.
I’m one big night away from wiping it all out. I just need one hit. One night of pure rhythm... and I’ll be back.
The shooter shakes the dice in his hand then tosses ‘em. I watch them clack on the table walls below me, but before they even settle on the pass line, I can already feel the star implode in my stomach.
In a flash, my hard work is raked away by some new guy named Carl with a moustache and not a single ounce of sympathy.
The party’s at Lenora (and Kelton’s) which was fine because honestly, I didn’t just have rats.
The rats came in chasing the cockroaches but when a bunch of them got into my Cadbury Mini Egg stash and died under the living room floor, a pack of fleas picked the carcass clean before making their way into the carpet above. So, yeah...at the moment I have fleas, cockroaches and rats. I had a bug bomb guy coming in a couple days but things were gonna be a little itchy until then.
It's three days until the party. I’ve got no gift and if I show up without that 200 bucks I may never see my kid again.
​
April 8, 2022 – 6:32AM
There’s only so much you can do on a security guard’s salary and being paid $12 an hour to guard millions of dollars in Mercedes automobiles is hilarious. What am I supposed to do if some guy comes in to steal a car? Lay my life on the line and hope my out-of-pocket HMO covers bullet wounds?
I don’t even have dental. I got a root canal that needed to be recapped 10 minutes after it was put in.
I’ve been on Mr. Jenkins about a raise but he keeps telling me “we gotta sell more cars, Davey,” as if I’m the one selling cars. I’m a fucking security guard what the hell’s that gotta do with me? Last I checked it was my job to keep cars on the lot and getting them off was yours.
Jenkins owns every car dealer on Van Nuys. Maybe you’ve seen his ads on TV where he slides into frame wearing a suit while riding a surfboard just to say “COME ON DOWN!” He can afford to buy a surfboard for tv ad that has no mention of surfing or aquatic sports of any kind but he can’t pay me an extra $3 an hour so I can re-introduce cold foods to my diet.
I spend most of my shift eyeing the mint green on onyx black SLS convertible they keep in the lobby. It’s flashy but it’s got a nut sack under the hood so you know you could back it up if you went toe-to-toe with some clown at a red light. Sometimes I just stare at it but I never touch it. I only wanna touch it when it’s mine. Which it would be...
Maybe I could steal it and sell it to get the iPad and some other shit. I know all the codes but then again I wouldn’t need the whole car. The thing costs half a mill. Maybe I could lift a rear-view mirror. Who would notice? Then again with the way the rhythm’s set I’d probably bump into the fucking FBI on the way out.
I’ve been doing my best to get things together but the cards aren’t falling my way and there’s not much you can really do about that. I’ve been going to the Hollywood for 15 years so I know I’m due for a run.
Me and Lenny talking about this all the time at the lounge. Sometimes you’re on the downbeat and sometimes you’re on the upbeat. Lately I feel like it’s been all downs but the thing about being a father though, is that you’re not the only one on that ride.
It used to be that I could take a few down weeks or months even. Sleep in the car, call the landlord and talk them out of breaking down the door but when you got a kid everything changes. You suffer, he suffers. Lately Lenora’s been paying for that but you see she keeps a tally. She says she doesn’t but she does.
Every time she has to pay for something she looks at me like I’m the biggest piece of shit then says “It’s ok, David.” Which it really isn’t.
The fees and stuff aren’t the real problem. It’s being able to take James out and take care of him. She wants to take that away from me and honestly I don’t blame her.
Last week my card got declined trying to pay for ice cream. James had already eaten half of his and the lady made us give it back. He didn’t talk to me the whole way home then 2 days later Lenora told me James didn’t really like spending time with me anymore. A week after that she filed for sole custody and told me they were thinking about moving to Chicago. Who the fuck would want to live there? It’s cold as fuck and the people are assholes.
​
April 8, 2022 – 12:20PM
I do pickups for a porta-john company on the side. It’s just temporary. I don’t clean the shit I just spray down the units and suck out cans and shit with a wet-vac before this guy named Pete sticks a hose in the back and drains the whole thing out.
I’m always surprised by what people put on the walls of a john. Usually it’s just drawings like hearts and shit but sometimes the rhythm finds you there too. One time I spotted a phone number Sharpied on a toilet seat but it was missing 1 number. 8 digits. Kinda like 4 roulette numbers right?
I took em to the Hollywood and won 5 grand on one roll! Hasn’t worked again for me yet... but that’s the thing about it man.
But today I’m cleaning out a row of johns after some music festival which by the way is far and away the worst clean ups to get. Sure you see these kids all cleaned up online in some tweed outfit or some shit but you should see the shit that comes out of these kids. It’s like paving tar with glitter and red bull cans.
I look down in the last john I’m hosing down and I see something. Peaking out of the mounds I see: a $20 bill.
I stared at it for a second but I could hear Pete coming down the line about to suck it into oblivion. I never seen cash in the john before. Sometimes you hear a coin clank through the hose but a 20 bill just staring you right in the face?
I did what any man would do. I grabbed it and when I pulled my hand out I was half expecting it to be missing a layer of skin.
Later I’m sitting in the truck staring at this 20 bucks thinking “why would this come to me?” There had to be a reason. It wasn’t just on the floor of some john. It was in the last john after the nastiest event at a time when all I needed was one shot.
It was the rhythm.
But having to do that for just $20 didn’t add up. There had to have been a greater purpose and you know what they say about money. You don’t let it sleep. You wanna get that money out and get it working.
Craps kicked my teeth in this morning and you can’t do shit with 20 bucks on a blackjack table. I had to think bigger.
Then I’m driving home from work and I see the 7/11. Powerball was at 2.11 BILLION. The biggest in history. If you got all 6 numbers right you got the whole chicken. If you got 5 you got just shy of 8 million bucks. Boom.
I had my usual numbers but this wasn’t a usual day. I told the cashier to give me “all randoms today.” 10 slips at $2 each.
That night I sat down on my couch waiting for the Powerball to come on tv... then I blacked out.
The next thing I knew I was staring at 6 numbers lit up on my tv screen: 08, 07, 14, 29, 40, 16
And on my slip: 08, 07, 14, 29, 40, 22
I had 5 out of 6 numbers. I’d just won 8 million dollars
​
April 9, 2022 – 9:01AM
I’m standing in line at the California Lottery Offices. It’s not some huge expansive place. It’s a shitty little line up of people with various ailments trying to dispute their $5 winning ticket.
My mind is racing. Who do I pay back first? Do they give me the cash here? Is it in a duffel bag? When do I have to hold that big ass check? Do I wear a mask? I saw a guy do it in a scream mask once to maintain his anonymity. Honestly it might be nice to be seen. Not only has everyone seen me as a piece of shit forever but also I haven’t exactly kept a detailed list of everyone I owe money to.
It’d be good for people to just hit me up, I can cut a check and tell them “thanks for your patience.” Maybe I’d even give them a little off the top as a tip.
The guy a the counter basically spat in my face; “It’s gotta be reviewed. Takes 2-5 days. We’ll email you a link to collect any winnings.” It was like I just accused him of something. No congratulations or anything which at first, I was pissed about but then I realized that clearly I wasn’t the first asshole who thought they won the lottery.
Except I really did. 2-5 days was nothing. I’d been living in the shit for years I could do another few days.
Stepping outside, everything looked the same. The air wasn’t purer or the sunlight any more sunlightier and I still had to fill up my tires at the Shell on Cahuenga. There’s something about being rich without actually having any appearance of being rich.
That secret alone is like having a bomb in your pocket. People treat you regular, they smile and make conversation but deep down you think...if I pulled this out I could kill you with it.
But when people do think you have money, the more of it they give you.
I rolled in the doors of the Hollywood like I always did. Lenny called me a bullshitter, Jackie barely even put her cigarette down and Jonie didn’t even bring me a drink because I didn’t actually have any money on the table. I didn’t even have money in my pocket. I’d spent it all on the Megamillions and I hadn’t eaten since perusing the halls for leftover room service the night before.
Then news hit. My face was on every TV in the place. “Local man wins 8 million dollar jackpot.”
I checked my phone to see if it was blowing up, then remembered I still hadn’t paid the bill in months. So I was good there.
​
April 9, 2022 – 11:11AM
If you’ve ever been on a casino floor you know that it’s never silent. But I swear to God if you were on the floor when that news hit, you could’ve heard the rats eating my Mini Eggs 20 miles away. Everyone’s eyes were trained on me. For a second I even felt all the security cams shift over in my direction.
I couldn’t stand being on the floor with nothing to play with so Lenny set me up with his guy who got me a little walking around money. Japanese guy who I met in a Burger King across the street. Weird dude. Not sure what his name was.
I didn’t wanna go too nuts so I just took out a small loan. 50k at 20 points. I thought about it for a second then realized I didn’t really give a shit about the interest. 10 grand to me in a week doesn’t mean nearly as much as 50 does now. It’s just value proposition. It would have been stupid NOT to take out the loan honestly.
Walking into the casino with 50 grand in my pocket and slamming it down on the table feels a lot like taking out your dick at an orgy only when your dick comes out it’s a 60 foot cigarette boat with flames painted on the side.
But then I learned what I remembered years ago. Losing money and gaining money at that point meant almost nothing.
So losing 2 grand a hand wasn’t such a big deal because I could be making 5 on the next. That’s why I needed a little more when I lost the full 50.
Another 100k or so at another 20 points should do the trick.
It didn’t take long to realize that both winning and losing money meant almost nothing to me. So I ventured out.
A tailored suit for me (ready in 2-3 days on a rush).
An iPad for James with all the bells and whistles.
6 dozen roses sent to Lenora’s house signed “your secret admirer.” just to fuck with Kelton.
A watch for me, Lenny and Jodie.
Some special cigar Jackie had always been eyeing.
New pairs of Nikes for all of us.
And a limousine to my dentist’s office.
I paid in cash for the cap replacement, they gave me some pills and told me not to mix them with alcohol but honestly I was a little distracted by the old molar cap sitting on the table. I had an idea.
“Are you gonna just throw that away?” I asked her.
By now I realized I didn’t have a phone to receive my winnings via email. So, I stopped a guy in the lobby and paid him 2 grand cash for his before popping a few pills and slugging some champagne in the limo.
There was barely enough time to sit back and relax. I had a lifetime of debt and yearning for shit to burn through.
We made it to the Mercedes dealership but the pain killers kicked in and I could barely feel my hands as they ran across the SLS’s mint green paint. Bummer.
Jenkins sauntered over asking if I was working today and all I remember saying was “I want it.” He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, so I put the remaining cash I had down on the table and said it again. “I WANT IT.”
They ran my credit (which was dog shit. Didn’t matter) and I looked Jenkins in his fat little face again and said “I don’t give a fuck.” He sold it to me, financed at 25 percent interest. Then when he went to fetch my paperwork and keys I took a shit on his desk, shoved the molar cap and a $20 bill in it before using his jacket to wipe my ass. Felt right. Don’t really know why.
I had walked into the CA lottery offices at 9am to start the review process on my ticket’s authenticity.
By 11am, I was watching news break from the Hollywood Casino.
By 10pm I had accrued more debt than a small country.
I hadn’t received a dime from the lotto.
And I needed more walking around money.
​
April 10, 11, 12 – who the fuck knows what time
The next few days were a blur but there are a few things I’ll never forget.
Quitting my job.
Hiring the limo for the week.
Trying to shit after 3 days of having nothing but fast food, champagne and pain killers.
Fielding questions at the party from Kelton’s asshole friends who told me “lotto rich isn’t real rich.”
And the heat of my house burning to the ground as James and I stood there watching with a can of gas in our hands.
He didn’t even want the iPad.
The rhythms were sliding back. James had that smile plastered back in his face and even Lenora was happy to see me.
​
April 16, 7:35AM
“Dear Mr. Baxter. Congratulations! You’ve successfully matched FOUR of six winning numbers. Below please find a link to collect your winnings of $10,000.”
I read it over and over again. Over and over and over.
When I called the offices an nice woman on the phone informed me that due to a printing malfunction the ticket had appeared to show the number 8 when in fact it was a 6.
They even managed to maintain a sense of excitement. I mean why wouldn’t they? They think I just won $10,000. They had no idea I’d bought a car I couldn’t afford, burned my house down, taken a shit on my boss’ desk, maxed out 3 new credit cards and borrowed a inordinate amount of money from people at a borderline illegal interest rate.
The limo company took my ride away and with no home I’ve spent the last 2 days parked on the Pacific Coast Highway, sleeping in the brand new Mercedes I can’t afford, in a suit I shouldn’t have bought, showering in the YMCA down the street, and eating 2-day-old coconut shrimp.
All of a sudden I’m fucked again. But as I stare out at the Pacific, my phone dings. It’s an alert from the Chase banking app. My lotto winnings of $10,000 have just hit my account and the only question is...
Are the rhythms with me or not?

Hi all.
After getting my Mercedes, I decided to just go to the closest official MB dealership for maintenance and repairs.
Yesterday I decided I would get some quotes from other dealerships, in order to do some comparison shopping, and the difference is staggering.
My “normal” dealer is Smeets (NL). They aren’t particularly special, customer service isn’t the friendliest, also not the worst in the world. If I want a loaner car, I have to rent it for a fee. I recently had my battery replaced here, and the bill was €450
Then I requested a quote from the Niederlassung. This is a real Mercedes-Benz dealership, owned by Mercedes-Benz 100%. (Don’t forget, the other ones are all ASPs, none of them are independent workshops) Here, the price is €650 for a new battery, INCLUDING EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT which I get for working at MB HQ.
Then the last one was Bähr. Not only are they extremely friendly, a new battery including employee discount is €300, and they will drive me home and pick me back up at no cost!
3 drastically different prices for the EXACT SAME THING. Same part number, same operation ID’s, etc.
So take this as a reminder, shop around for your service partner, don’t just assume the one you have is best.

Found this car at my local Infiniti dealer. Has all of the packages. Been looking to ditch my '13 BMW as I'm sick of issue after issue popping up. Sunk so many thousands into this car and I'm done with that shit.
The car's been serviced at this one dealer since they bought it in 2013 (second owner) and there's 36 pages of service history reports. If trade value and everything checks out I'll be getting a pre purchase inspection. Anyone know of anything to look out for other than A/C actuators?