Anyway, the link is www.carfax.com/flood...last time I checked it was still working (and still free, though all you get is info on flood damage). Of course I just tried it now and I get an error message, but it says to try back in a few minutes, so hopefully it's still free if/when it's back up and running.

Or do you run on batteries for the first 40 miles until they get down to say a 75% charge, and then the gasoline engine kicks in and slows the battery discharge...but eventually the battery gets down to 0% and you have to pull it in for an overnight recharge?

Having a range of 300 miles until you have to fill the gas tank is no problem...having a range of 300 miles before you have to plug it in for a recharge IS a problem.

I'd dealt with bumblebees that build hives in the ground before when I'd be bush-hogging a pasture, but they typically hover near the ground after you stir up one of their nests, so when you come back around you see them flying around just above the ground, and again just put it in high gear, duck, and run across them a 2nd time as quickly as possible.

Hornets/yellow jackets were always more of a problem for me than bees.

I've always like Volvos for some reason, especially the P1800, but their current stuff too. Maybe it's the implied reliability and safety that attracts me, like the appeal of birthing hips and good milk production when choosing a female to add to the herd (I'm talking cattle, of course).

Several years ago I worked with a young girl who'd bought a used Camry because she wanted a reliable car, then she started having all sorts of random electrical problems with it. I gave her a ride to pick it up one day, and the mechanic discovered if you pulled back the trunk liner there was a distinct water line on the metal, and there was fine sand underneath. Not a pleasant discovery when you've dropped a lot of cash on a vehicle bought "as is".

However, if the car is still sitting there maybe it didn't sell...the buyer's eBay handle was "meaghan088" if anybody wants to see if maybe the earlier deal fell through. I don't see any feedback posted for that sale, so maybe it didn't even reach the reserve.

I also have a uncle who was a railroad engineer. Several years ago he was running a train eastbound on a track that typically only carries westbound traffic except for his train that went through once every day or two. One day there were four high school kids in a pickup at the crossing...my uncle was blaring down the horn to get the kids' attention and trying to stop the train when saw them, but they were all looking off to the East where the trains typically came from, and never saw him approaching from the West. It took a long time and a lot of counseling before he could go back to work, and he retired not too long after that.

Several years ago I did an eBay search for Yugo and came upon a guy in Houston selling brand new Yugo floor mats. I bought a set for no particular reason, and in communicating with the guy I asked him what the story was on them. These were tan mats, and apparently whenever whoever ordered the mats in bulk they got 50% gray and 50% tan...but something like 90% of the cars that came here had gray interiors, so they had a surplus of the tan mats. I still have them in the box in my garage; maybe now is the time for me to re-list them on eBay, knowing there'll be at least one buyer out there.

And from a price standpoint, of course they'd sell a bunch more if they could price them under $30k; but if you're a loyal Malibu/Impala buyer you'd probably be swayed to upgrade, which wouldn't necessarily be a good thing for GM (who would rather have conquests from other makes). So from a long-term standpoint, it could be smart to bring it in at a high price initially and then let the technology trickle down to the average buyer down the road. If the technology were such that they could easily crank out 200k+ of these per year, then that might make sense; but right off the bat they couldn't do that, and probably better to sell a few to the folks that are willing to pay the high price for one, versus promising it at $25k and then having a lengthy delay in delivery (and risk angering the masses who get tired of waiting and buy a Prius because they're available).

If the car performs as touted and GM is seen as a success (again), then as the technology is expanded to other GM lines and the price drops, it'll attract more and more folks to the GM fold; so they may actually be thinking long-term about this roll-out. But time will tell.