Here's the thing about bells and whistles... as long as they are working, they're great. I think I have posted before about a guy on the Ford F150 forum who had a cracked tail light on his 3 year old truck. It cost him over $6,000 to repair because rainwater got into the wiring and sensors for that fancy "there's a car coming!!!" monitor.
My car has auto-folding side view mirrors and adaptive headlights. The side view mirrors fold in whenever you turn off the ignition. Then when you start the car, they fold back out. The gears are plastic an have been known to have a short life. I found the magic sequence of events required to turn off that feature. My headlights turn with the steering wheel, so when you go around a corner or a bend at night, the headlights turn into it rather than shoot off into the distance straight ahead. It's pretty slick, and real nice to have. It's also expensive to fix, as are the headlights (you do not go to the auto parts store and buy replacement bulbs.) The good thing about Mazda is they will help with at least some of the cost if you have significant failures and you're not too far out of warranty. But as you say, there is so much "standard" stuff these days that is so expensive to repair.
That is one of the painful things (cost) of modern day vehicle repairs. But, all of these bells and whistles is what many in society wanted and got. Instead of buying extra gauges (oil pressure, water temp, battery) that weren't included in the vehicle, vehicle manufacturers have included them in. Warning sensors are great for backing up, wanting to change lanes, etc., but it does cost money to repair them. The cost of labor has also increased as well as the cost of parts.
Went to an "in the water" Boat Show at the Lake Mead Marina on Lake Mead. "On the water" means that the new boats were tied up next to docks in the marina and if a person registered, they could drive one for a "test drive" on the lake. Of course, a salesman would accompany anyone driving. We had never been to an "on the water" Boat Show before. The main dock, that ends at the marina is a pretty long walk. When we lived in Colorado the first time, we went to the Boat Show that was held in Denver at their Convention Center (inside). It was huge. Actually, this Boat Show was in the middle of winter. Anyway, we were just curious about the new boats and cost. Well, how about $359,000 for one boat we looked at. After that, we stopped by our boat/trailer in storage and I put new marine grease (grease gun) on the Buddy Bearings on each trailer wheel. That was a job, but with my wife's help, we got it done. All we have to do now is have a nice/decent weekend day to put engine batteries back into the boat and start it up with hose connected to outdrive. After that, we MAY launch it on Lake Mead, or else just try and sell the boat/trailer. We have to sell both before we can move.
The boat show we attended was for brand new boats, not used ones or old ones. Our boat/trailer is in a boat/trailer storage. We will attach two For Sale signs to the windshield, but don't know if that will do a thing. Another thing, John, places don't host Used Boat shows or sales.
We just found out that there are two livestock auctions in northwest Nevada. One in Carson City and the other in Fallon. We love livestock auctions and went to the one in Fort Collins, Colorado a number of times to watch cattle and sheep be auctioned off. There would be "no way" this kind of auction would be found here in the area we live. Just another reason to go up to Carson City/Reno area for a week, check things out, and move up there by the first of September.
Just decided to stop in and let you good folks know what's happening: Our boat and trailer is up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, Boat Trader and Nextdoor/Henderson. If you want to take a look at it, it's a 1992 Celebrity 200 Cuddy Cabin w/EZ Loader Trailer. Both for $9,000, which also includes numerous things that go with the boat. The engine only has 32 hours on it (Hour Meter above engine). Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor are free, but Boat Trader cost us $229 to advertise for 12 weeks. If, by chance, the boat/trailer doesn't sell, we will pay to have it transported to Carson City/Reno area (if that's where we end up moving to). About 45 minutes east of Carson City is a lake we can put it on. However, physically speaking, we no longer want to handle launching/retrieving it, so we hope it sells. We aren't going to have the boat/trailer stop us from moving. The SIL, wife's older sister, still would like to come out and see us, but it's getting so, so hot and darn near every hotel is charging an "arm and leg" for a room. IOW, summer tourist season is here. We haven't, and won't, tell her when we are taking our 1-week trip up to Carson City/Reno area next month. I've told her "this isn't a vacation trip for us, it's a research and looking at apartments trip for us". She doesn't like hearing the word "no", so we simply won't tell her when we are going up. Only way we can handle the situation. Wife is still working at home. Starting today, for the entire week, we will start out in the low 90's, but end up in the upper 90's, as in 98 by the middle of the week. People here love the heat, but we sure don't. So, that's it. We did make a mistake moving here, but that's just the way it is. My wife told me "I always wanted to live in, or near, Las Vegas, but not any more!"
Good luck selling that boat. I'm sure with the prices of new boats since COVID, someone who wants to get into the sport will be interested.
LOL, but I can definitely see who likes me and who don't. Then again, there are times that I don't even like me, believe it or not. Anyway, I'll put an Avatar back on soon. Guess no matter how hard I try, I just can't stay away from Ken's Forum. Guess, to a point, that's a good thing. Again, LOL Well, in a few weeks, Saturday June 8th, we drive up to Carson City/Reno area in our 2021 Durango GT. Will be up there for about a week, checking out apartment complexes and some of the area. It's been many, many years since I've been to Lake Tahoe and my wife might just talk me into driving up there on the Sunday after we arrive. We are looking extremely forward to going up there. The northern and northwestern part of Nevada is almost 100% different than where we are. We've already been told, but numerous people, both up there (over a forum) and down here (in person) that we'd like living up there much, much better than here. Last Friday we hit 100 degrees with 6% humidity. Very dry and very hot! And, we aren't even in June, July or August yet. I really have no idea why there are so, so many people living in the Henderson/Vegas area-valley. Well over 3 million! And, more coming.
I drove all the way up on Saturday (8th) to Carson City, NV. Left our apartment at 8AM. No traffic and nice and cool. On the way back down to Henderson, last Friday (14th) we decided to spend a night at an old (very old) hotel/casino in Tonopah. We didn't want to drive all the way back (7 to 8 hours), like we did going up. On the way to Carson City, we drove thru Fallon, which is a small city/town some 50 miles east of Carson City. It's definitely a "cattle raising" area and has a livestock auction on the edge of town, but way too small for us to live in. Basically, Carson City is very, very boring! It is, however, the Gateway/Highway to South Lake Tahoe. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and didn't get nearly enough sleep due to the bed. The "Free Breakfast" wasn't that good either. One morning we went to Denny's down the street. The Sunday after arriving (the 9th), we drove to South Lake Tahoe. I had never been to Lake Tahoe, but my wife has, but that was many, many years ago. She was pretty surprised at how crowded it was. IOW, it was packed with people! I drove up and back and was very surprised at how fast young folks were driving. It was truly scary! While staying in Carson City, we decided to drive to Lake Topez. Carson City Valley is full of cattle grazing and it was great seeing all of the cattle. Didn't see any horses in fields, so I figure the cattle belonged to famers, not ranchers. Looked at a the only apartment complexes in Carson City, but didn't like any of them. So, with the city being so boring and no apartments, Carson City was "off of the list" to move to. Next, we headed to Reno. Holy Cow, Reno is much, much bigger than either of us thought. And, very, very "fast paced"! Lots and lots of apartment complexes and we looked a few that looked great. However, my wife's eyes were burning due to (don't know). It REALLY looks like Reno wants to be another Las Vegas...............and, it's working! The Nevada DOT is working on the freeways in Reno. Possibly to accommodate more folks moving to Reno? Reno isn't completely "out" for moving to, but we are going to check out Prescott, Arizona next. We got a Lease Renewal e-mail and will "renew" for 10 months. Just too short of time for selling our boat and moving right now. We won't unpack anything that we've already packed up, so that will "physically" help us. And, on top of that, a "PLUS" for not moving right now is, we will be here for the National Finals Rodeo this coming December. We will again go to Buffet Breakfast at MGM and a Cowboy Autograph Sesson, also at the MGM. And, perhaps take in the Cowboy Christmas again, but definitely not twice, like we did last December. What we definitely know is: We can't continue to live in this summer heat after the 10 month Renewal is over. We are about to go into the hottest month (July) of the year, where daytime temps can/will get upwards of 115. Bottom Line: We definitely weren't happy with Carson City and semi-unhappy with Reno. So, that's it!
I forget where you live now, but Prescott has gotta be 600-700 miles from Reno!!! That's quite a long haul.
We currently live in Henderson, NV, just north of Hoover Dam area. Don't know what you mean by "quite a haul"? We may, in early Spring 2025, drive down to Prescott to check it out. That's a 4 hour drive from where we live, whereas Carson City/Reno was an 8 hour drive up north. Reno isn't "out of the question" yet for moving there, but it's sort of like the old saying "jumping from the frying pan into the fire" when it comes to lots of traffic and people. Prescott is much, much smaller than Reno, but both are much cooler than Henderson/Vegas and both have 4-seasons. I really wouldn't mind moving back to northern Colorado, but my wife really doesn't want to. We put up with a total of nine years of snowstorms, below zero days and blizzards. Five years the first time and four years the second time.
I sure hope that other members, besides John, reply here about our visit to Carson City/Reno area and about a possible move, later, to Prescott, AZ.