Questions Archives - EPautos - Libertarian Car Talk

Reader Question: Technocratism?

Questions eric - May 18, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply: Laura asks: Here is something the Agenda 2030 people are pushing; they want most of us on bicycles or walking. My reply: Indeed. I...

Reader Question: Blood Pressure Bamboozle?

Questions eric - May 18, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! G asks: I have sent this to Lew Rockwell, Bill Sardi, a retired uncle who was high up at FDA, a retired doctor...

Reader Question: Classic Car Recommends?

Questions eric - May 17, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Jason asks: Foremost, I want to thank you for you blog. I first learned about you through the Tom Woods podcast. I've recommended...

Reader Question: Dirty Daydreams?

Questions eric - May 17, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Ron asks: Two years ago my insurance company wanted to raise my rates 36 percent. In previous 5 years increases were below 5...

Reader Question: Ever Been There?

Questions eric - May 15, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Zane asks: Not really a question, but as you're always talking about getting old cars and classics, I'm wondering if you ever been...

Reader Question: Theft-Proofing Older Cars?

Questions eric - May 14, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Tim asks: I have been thinking about getting something pre '95, due to all the advantages you mentioned and lower personal property tax....

Reader Question: Classic Datsun?

Questions eric - May 14, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Michael asks: Love your website and its great to hear your thoughts on Tom Woods podcast. An older family friend has a nice...

Reader Question: Warm AC?

Questions eric - May 13, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! CC asks: Hi Eric. I heard you on the Tom Woods Show. Watched some of your videos and love the car/libertarian theme! My...

Reader Question: Older Cars vs. Classics?

Questions eric - May 13, 2019

Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply! Gwyn asks: I have a 2001 Honda Accord that I Love. Reliable, fast, good pickup and fewer computers hiding all over the place. ...

Reader Question: The Ethanol Issue?

Questions eric - May 12, 2019

Here's the latest reader questions, along with my reply! Dennis asks: You are one of the most intelligent writers that I read on any subject. My question? I am 67 now and...

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Latest Stuff

Tom M: With the gas tax, those who drive vehicles that get less mileage pay more because they have to buy more gas. I don’t believe...
eric: Agreed, Jason – But, the problem for me is that everyone else texts. And so I need to be able to receive them. I mean...
Jason Flinders: I think the addictive quality is less when you use a simple phone that does nothing but act as a portable telephone. (No...
Bill B: I remember the absurdity of fuel rationing in the 70’s, when one could only buy gas on specific days depending on...
Eightsouthman: I think these systems open the valves early to avoid compressing air with no fuel. This is where the system has early...
JdL: How handy it will be for the government once cars are under explicit control! Anyone the government doesn’t like can be...
Eightsouthman: eric, our roads are pretty good but most are crowded but not having to deal with the loafers and such I sometimes find...
JACK: This article really sets me off ! Some of us, our ancestors that is, fought this yankee tyranny. They killed over 300,000 of us for...
Eightsouthman: Nunz, I had no idea I came off as that stupid. Just remember what Forrest’s mom said.
eric: Hi D, Some of the cost of “coverage,” of course, is a function of the car you drive. Its value/replacement cost as well...
eric: I agree, T – All it will take is the right pretext, properly delivered. Just like 911. Anyone who remembers the world before...
eric: Hi Blue, I sometimes feel like an alien sent here to observe… When I first heard about Twitter, my immediate reactions was:...
eric: Hi Handler, The jury is still out for me on this question. My niece is still very young. But you’re right. I would absolutely...
eric: Morning, Handler! I read an interesting study a few weeks ago about the psychologically addictive nature of cell phones and the...
The Handler: It’s no accident that smartphones are controlling people.
The Handler: You’d be better off leaving it to a stranger that actually appreciates the car. My parents decided not to leave my...
The Handler: “IMHO Liberty / Freedom isn’t a learned concept,,, it cannot be taught. It has nothing to do with knowledge,,, in fact...
bluegrey6124: “I swear the average IQ has dropped 20 points or more since the advent of digital controls and ‘smart’ phones.”...
Jeremy: Hi Tuanorea, Yeah, me too! No, I never ate at Checker cab, wish I had though. Cheers, Jeremy
Tuanorea: Well Jeremy, I was hoping the last few decades were just a nightmare and I could still go to Michigan and Trumbull and sit in...
Tuanorea: Marky, It will surely be incremental. “I still think it’ll take more than a decade before today’s present fleet of cars can be...
BrentP: Robot cars at their finest: https://youtu.be/tP19WuyY3IY?t =428 (if the time in the URL doesn’t work 7:08)
Nunzio: D, Have you thoroughly shopped around? Premiums can vary wildly from company to company- and often the big ones that advertise...
D: Wow guys! I’m paying over $1300 a year for my 2013 CTS in TX. And that’s up from $900 3 years ago (even after switching...
Jason Flinders: Pumping losses are reduced with cylinder deactivation. I don’t know if that translates into any noticeable...
BrentP: On self checkout. First the discount went to those who benefit inflation. Second at many stores the cashier staff is slow and/or...
BrentP: In the late 1980s there was a push to ban all pre 1980 cars for the environment. It failed because people fought back not because...
BrentP: The welfare state rewards low IQ and short time preference and punishes high IQ and long time preference with little exception....
Anti Federalist: Ken wrote: “I swear the average IQ has dropped 20 points or more since the advent of digital controls and ‘smart’...
eric: Hi Culley, It takes very little power to maintain say 60 MPH on a flat road; as little as 30 or so horsepower. The slight economy...
MikePizzo: “Will enough of us wake up in time?” In time to do “what??”
MarkyMark: Well, you didn’t say that to begin with! As for only 8.3 million being returned, if the amount seized isn’t big,...
Jeremy: Hey Tuan, Even sarcasm is not immune from you. Cheers buddy, Jeremy
Culley: Thank you for your response but I still don’t understand how running four cylinders can save fuel. The amount of energy...
ken: Good luck with that,,, IMHO Liberty / Freedom isn’t a learned concept,,, it cannot be taught. It has nothing to do with...
Tuanorea: Jeremy, “A dystopian nightmare would descend upon the world!” That’s news to me. I thought it already had. If only I could...
Tuanorea: Marky, “If someone has to FORFEIT an asset on which they’re paying $6,000 or more PER YEAR, people are going to notice that,...
eric: Hi T, Prolly… but you never know. I have a niece… I suppose I could pass the Orange Barchetta on to her…
Tuanorea: Eric, Let me bring you back from “the before time in the long, long ago” to the reality of today....
BrentP: Everyone else must conform to your definitions of what’s real and how the public way should be used. Yeah. I expected as...
BrentP: So if you own a lumbering pickup truck you’re not a real car enthusiast? Especially if chose not to use your sports car...
BrentP: It’s not the opposite. You have decided I am ‘fake’ because I don’t drive like you do. And being someone...
Anonymous: Exactly. I have 3 who know now what it took me 40 years to discover.
eric: Hi Eight, Indeed – but circa 1969, most highways had 70-75 limits… that was 50 years ago. Today’s cars are as...
eric: Hi T, Indeed. But, there is also the opportunity to transmit the heresy of liberty down the line. If I found a simpatico chick, I...
eric: Hi Vonu, I doubt Gary’s paying appreciably less than I am. My truck is ancient – 2002 Frontier – and hardly worth...
Tuanorea: Eric, “I still debate with myself whether to have kids if the opportunity arises… is it a moral imperative? Or a moral failing...
eric: Hi Ken, I also sigh audibly in re the self-checkout. Not because of self-checkout, per se. But because – as you note –...
ken: There is very little hope Eric. Driving to the store,,, people talking on phones,,, walking in store,,, people talking on phones....
Vonu: Eric, It sounds like you could benefit from reading Gary North on automobiles. My automobile insurance has never exceeded $400 a...
Ernie: Freedom would/will fix so many things. When engaged in your driving, you don’t text or surf. You keep your equipment in top...
Nunzio: Awww, geez, yous two- yous remind me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ALaUQgjweYM
Eightsouthman: eric, we have some decent speed limits in Tx. 75 most everywhere and higher on I 10 and I 20 beginning in Ward county...
Anonymous: Heya 8, Well, you know one now! It would be my honor to join you on a trip. You really seem switched on!
MarkyMark: I didn’t say that DUI checkpoints don’t limit mobility; they do, in that they, at best, inconvenience you and it...
Chris: Clockwork Orange Alert¹: Chevrolet’s new safety mode blunts teen spirit https://www.detroitnews.com...
Tuanorea: Marky, “Unlike TSA patdowns or DUI checkpoints, limiting mobility will impact people economically.” You really think...
Eightsouthman: Anon, I’ve never known anyone who did acid that wasn’t changed to some degree by it….and I’ve...
Jeremy: “How is that AGWs are legally immune from the consequences of things which if we did them would be prosecuted as...
brazos_bend: Same here, trying to find a way out. Premium up over $600 since 2017, un-affordable now. House insurance premiums up same...
Nunzio: Mornin’ D & Eric, I concur! It’s now “like that” everywhere. The BS that started in CA, NY and MA 40...
Jason Flinders: It’s based on the ancient maxim that “The King’s men can do no wrong.”
brazos_bend: More feminization of vehicles, trying to break up the boys only club. Over at Thenewx.org where I post frequently, we all...
brazos_bend: Another butt ugly, nightmare under the hood. Though, it probably has more HP now than my 2013 V8 silverado which is only...
MarkyMark: BB, according to the math WE learned, it is…
Jeremy: Chuck, “Just like you expect me to “voluntarily” drive like a grandma so you can ride wherever you want whenever you...
MarkyMark: How is that AGWs are legally immune from the consequences of things which if we did them would be prosecuted as crimes?...
Eightsouthman: eric, I’ve seen a few videos of people having problems, often fairly severe, with GM pickups due to cylinder...
MarkyMark: Eric, I think this scheme will take a decade or so to fully implement. Why? Because people are simply keeping their cars...
brazos_bend: Eric my math may be off but isn’t infinity months larger than 48 months?
Tuanorea: Eric, “If one accepts the premises – that carbon dioxide is an “emission” and that its release by human activity such as...
ReadyKilowatt: Or maybe it’s just that they all went to the same colleges and continue to stick in the same circles. I’m...
ReadyKilowatt: But there’s the DMCA too. They needed both to keep from becoming common carriers, which is really what they should...
ReadyKilowatt: And don’t forget that the elites really liked the 3 broadcast network world. And the three record label world. And...
eric: Thanks, Victor! I also got a chill when I noticed the comment sections being shut down. And I have discovered, as an aside, that...
victor t: It became glaringly obvious to me where this was all going a few years back when i started to notice MSM sites starting to...
eric: Hi D, Indeed. Another crazy thing: Never in the history of the automobile has the average automobile been as powerful/quick/fast as...
eric: Hi John, I am convinced that if automated cars or speed limiters become common/mandated, the government will simply tax distance...
eric: Hi D, My parents lived in Arizona until 2016; you’re right – it’s changed. Because people have changed –...
bluegrey6124: It’s not the Internet; but rather, that damned social(ist) media that is making all but a few of us...
D: I spend a lot of time in AZ and it is even worse than the, rapidly eroding, situation in Texas.
John: The badge-n-gun-totin’ tax collectors will merely make up other reasons to pull you over. Touching the white line with your...
D: Eric – I’m paying much more now for a 2013 Cadillac than I did 27 years ago for a 12 year old 1980 Ferrari GTB. Insane....
Shotgun Chuck: “Uh, no. ‘We’ don’t ‘claim’ roads, the only person who seems to believe he has a right to...
Shotgun Chuck: “Yeah, I’m fake because I don’t intentionally drive at the limits of tire adhesion on the public way.”...
Shotgun Chuck: Sorry, but this misses the point entirely. The ones who don’t own cars are the ones I can sort of understand....
Shotgun Chuck: More a difference in mentality. When you’re on the street, there’s no real reward for “winning”...
Nunzio: Dayum, Ed! Ya got me. I don’t own a car. (I do own two trucks….)
BrentP: Yeah, I’m fake because I don’t intentionally drive at the limits of tire adhesion on the public way. There are...
BrentP: scared of the trees or something?
Ed: Chuck, I get what you’re saying about the fake enthusiasts. These guys who love to argue about their rights to the roads...
eric: Amen, Nunz! The people here are top shelf and my muse, too!
Jason Flinders: I’ve been wondering how long it will be before the metastasizing police state reaches out to crush the Amish....
Anonymous: Hi nunz, Thank you for saying kind things. Not to get too personal, but I’ve been having an unusually difficult time...
Nunzio: Exactly, Cantank! The Amish have it right. They’ve avoided most of the control, and most of the perils of modern life....
Jeremy: Hey Chuck, 1. “Every somewhat curvy road that’s within 30 miles of civilization and not already full of houses has already...
Nunzio: Eric, while your articles are always excellent, I have to say that this site has the best comment section on the internet! The...
Nunzio: And Brett Kavanaugh was responsible for a good deal of that legislation- hence the media circus surrounding his nomination to...
MarkyMark: Even Bill Maher stuck up for Alex Jones on his show! He said that he didn’t like Jones, but that AJ has a right to speak.
MarkyMark: Speaking of cats, how’s Fuzz doing?

Questions

Reader Question: Net Energy Loss?

Reader Question: Is It Practical?

Reader Question: Is Cylinder Deactivation Idiotic?

Reader Question: Direct Injection Defense?