Looks like the key is finding a trustworthy mechanic - if one doesn't want to do all the work.

Glad to see that you guys are not buying into the newest tech all the time, like so many do.

I guess I'm evolving after all. I came from a point in life where I spent most of my income on lifestyle. But what once made me happy, turned into shackles. And then its gotten to a point where my stuff owns me.

Time to get rid of the overhead and make things simple again. These days I don't mind wrenching on a car, at all. But throwing money out of the window does get old.

A set of new rear tires on my fast car is $1100. And that's just one example. I have been pushing this thing hard for over 20k miles - that engine won't last 200k miles, heck not even 50k.

Time to adjust. Now ya'll can call me an old, grumpy, man. 

Well I too usually do my own maintenance for my vehicles.  In fact, the two I have, a 2000 Chevy Impala 3.8L and a GMC 2002 Diesel 6.6L 3/4 ton 4x4 crew cab.

The Impala needs a new battery at the moment and some TLC...
Some things I have a good local mechanic that does some things, and I OK with his work.

I really don't see me purchasing a new vehicle anytime soon if I can keep these going.
However, I'm at the age where I will be required to take money out of my portfolio's so if the right deal presents itself I might buy another vehicle because mine are older.

Evening Crockett, My skillset is more in the pc world, but my son-in-law is a mechanic, which is fine for my 2011 Ford Edge. As for my wife's new Edge, not nearly so much. I felt it important that she has something reliable, but with that comes a crazy price tag. Yes, I dislike spending that kind of money, but feel better that she's in a relatively safe vehicle that is less likely to just quit. We also know a skilled mechanic that is also our friend that has a large shop on his farm. He is substantially cheaper than the dealership and we trust him, so it works out pretty all around.

Let's talk about modern cars, and pickups.

I am a car guy, always have been. Once I own a vehicle, it will never see a dealership or shop again. I do all the maintenance, repairs, modifications, and even recalls.

I have so little trust in dealerships that I rather order the recalled parts, pay for them and install them on my time, then risking that the dealership will screw something up, or try to screw me over.

For the longest time I would buy new vehicles at steep discounts in a buyers market, nationwide, keep them for 1 to 4 years, and sell them at break-even point, usually in a sellers market.

This way I haven't "paid" for a vehicle in at least 15 years.

That being said, cars and trucks have become increasingly complex, and this fact adds more parts to the list that can and will fail eventually.

Also, with the inflation of the past years, vehicles have become MUCH more expensive. Even a big discount will not balance the price increases out, and who knows if we will have a proper sellers market again.

At this point I'm losing interest in owning and driving nice and new cars or trucks, due to these factors:

- good deals are harder to find
- quality is going down because brands are cutting corners for higher profit margins
- complexity and failures are going up due to EPA regulations and new / more tech
- repairs on complex vehicles take longer and cost more in parts
- modern vehicles are designed to break after the warranty period runs out
- I hate worrying about where I park my vehicles and seeing dings and scratches from strangers on my vehicles

I'm getting tired of feeding this greed ridden industry. I'm tired of playing the back-office games at dealerships.

Consequently I'm considering to sell all my nice vehicles, never buy a new one again, keep my old beater minivan camper, buy another one from the same year for around 2 grand, and be done with this entire chapter.

Owning 2 old minivans will allow me to always have one in running condition. I can borrow parts between them if needed. Somebody puts another scratch on it, on the supermarket parking lot? Who cares? I won't even realize it.

I know this model year extremely well due to all the work I have done, hence repairs are easy and quick. Parts are plenty and very cheap. A new radiator costs $70. New brake pads all around are only $45. Oil change cost me $19, with filter.

My desire to spend 50k or more on a new car, or 90k on a nice truck, is gone.

I own a sports car that goes 190 MPH and reaches 60 in below 3 seconds but I can't make use of that anywhere. Traffic has become horrible around here and the next race track is 4 hours away. That diesel pickup can pull a house, but I don't even own a 5th wheel trailer.

On the other hand, my minivan camper allows me to do everything I want, even stay over night at the beach, or pick up anything needed for my house and yard.

How do you guys feel about new cars and trucks, how much they cost these days, how likley they will have complex issues past the warranty? Are you still willing to keep running in this hamster-wheel of wasted money?

One of the things I was lucky to secure back in the day for my S&W 1006 was a Bar-Sto Match Grade conversion barrel chambered for 40S&W that I purchased directly from Bar-Sto.  I did fitting to the 1006 slide and frame for function.  It was a great addition to the platform.

Also as I was studying the 9x25Dillon cartridge I chatted with Mike McNett of Double Tap, and he had Bar-Sto make some 9x25 conversions for several different firearms to include the 1006.  I purchased the conversion barrel from Mike.  This 9x25 Match Grade which also needed to be fit to the slide and frame but also needed to be final reamed for proper head spacing. I was luck to have a gunsmith contact me to do the work because he had the proper reamer and he did an amazing job to finish the reaming.







I was in contact with a guy who was a machinist and was going to produce some barrels for the S&W 10xx series pistols.  He was going to make several barrels for me until he had issues where he didn't have access to the CNC machines.  However, I was wanting barrels chambered for the 357SIG for the 1006 5" and the 1066 4.25".
This project may or may not come back to the light of day... The last pictures are some of his machine work.


Barrel blanks thet were bored for 10mm/.400"and 0.355"

After sleeping on this:

1006 first choice
4506 second choice (945 would be even better)
4013 distant third choice
5906 why bother

1006.

But if they really want a winner, with a special run like this they should include a 1006 top end and a 4506 top end.

Of course in typical "why make it simple" S&W fashion, in the original form the 4506 and 1006 top ends did not interchange. Lug, decks, cams, etc were all cut differently between the two.  In fact, even the mags were not interchangeable between the frames IIRC.  I guess modularity, design and mfg efficiency were not on the S&W roadmap in those days.

So, 1006.

Though I did have to check prices on the 4013TSW.  And I wonder if it would be the standard release model or the one with the CHP upgrades.

I don't have a FaceBook account but I have access to a friend's account in order to manage my business's account.

He'll be surprised when he now gets a bunch of gun related post's on his page.

He's a liberal. 


1006 obviously. Maybe I'll get one this time around.

Smith & Wesson suggested a remake of a 3rd gen pistol and the S&W 1006, 4506, 5906 and the 4013TSW were being shown as possible.



Those who have FB can view this on the S&W FB page here.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1220512373451590&set=a.624210146415152

The 9mm cartridges fit the standard G-20 mags OK!  It sometimes doesn't feed reliably more because the recoil rod and spring (if I recall was 9lbs maybe 11lbs) kit for the 9mm conversion. 
Postimage is acting up at the moment so couldn't add pics