Happy Boredom

Here are some actual out the door prices paid for a 2009 Honda Fit. Dealers do not make large profits on economy cars like the Fit so I think you will find that most of the prices paid are fairly close to invoice. I’ll post out the door prices in the comments as I find them.

Update: I think the 2010 Honda Fit is selling now. I will post to another area when sale information becomes available. If you are interested in a Prius I also peruse the web for 2009 Toyota Prius prices and 2010 Toyota Prius prices paid. With the economy in the tank people have been buying less cars talking about their prices paid a lot less lately.

With the 2010 Honda Fit rolling out we should expect to see the 2007 Honda Fit coming onto the used market.

My 2008 Prius just rolled over 23,000 miles today. I’ve had the car for over a year now (1 yr 1 month) and I haven’t had any serious problems yet although I do have a few quibbles.

First, the power button on my radio is semi-broken. Every once in a while I can’t turn the radio off from the center console because it must have a bad wiring connection somewhere. If you pound on the center console firmly the on/off button will work again. I definitely need to get this issue fixed before the car goes off warranty and the radio button breaks permanently.

On a positive note, pre-paid maintenance has been great. I take my care into the dealership, I give them a voucher, and then a few hours later I get the car back but I don’t have to pay a dime. I’m not fully convinced I saved any money. The Prius only requires oil changes for the first several thousand miles (I think 15,000?) but according to the invoices the average cost of an oil change at my dealership costs about $40 is about 20 minutes if you get there early.

Considering the cost of an oil change that seems way more than the invidial small services.

One bonehead move on my part: for my first oil change I had a gift voucher from the dealership to get my first oil (5,000) change free. I redeemed that thinking I could save the pre-paid maintenance vouchers for later. It turns out, however, that the mechanics read the pre-paid maintenance schedule checklist based on the number of vouchers redeemed in the system not the scheduled maintenance advised for all car drivers.

So, on my second visit to the dealership (10,000 miles) I gave them my first maintenance voucher which is supposed to be for 5,000 miles. So, according to the pre-paid maintenance reminders postcards that I get in the mail I am 5,000 miles late for all of my services. The reality is that I am on time with my service, I just screwed up the maintenance plan.

UPDATE 3: Map pack 2 came out a couple days ago. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 is actually a lightning gun for the new Japanese Zombies map Shih no numa. It shoots an electric beam. Video footage is widely available on Youtube.

Since CallofDuty.com announced that the second map pack for June will have a new gun, the Wunderwaffe DG-2, I have been trying to find a picture of it. The only picture I could find is a forum post that looks like concept art for the Call of Duty World at War. Everybody, including myself, views this concept art as a STG-44 with a light on it. Fairly lame.

Current speculation on the forums is that the Wunderwaffe DG-2 is a Nazi Zombie-only weapon. Also, according to the forums, Wunderwaffe translates to “Wonder Weapon.” It reminds me of that old PC flying game The Secrets of the Luftwaffe (see below for video)

UPDATE my war historian friend, mc midgetman tells me that he saw this very weapon on the history channel recently. As the picture in the upper right shows, the lamp on the top labeled “black searchlight” is a blacklight. Like a laser tag arena with black lights, you can see whites, neons, and other light colors clearly in the dark. This effectively illuminates the people in front of you without being a gleaming beacon like a normal light would.

This would seem to be a logical and easy upgrade in the CoD5 gameplay because CoD4 already had night vision goggles. This would bring night vision to CoD5. Makin Night just got a whole lot easier.

UPDATE 2 this is not concept art from the game. I found this picture somewhere else, not related to Call of Duty. For more information, read about the WunderWaffe 1 – Vampire vision

Source: Nextgenupdate forums (posted by Cheekspreader. Nice Goatse!)

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (a LucasArts game)