has anyone noticed how bright headlights are

[livih99]

Being sensitive to certain kinds of light, I rarely drive at night anymore.

I have a brain condition that also affects my eyes. My vision at night is not great and the bright headlights make it so I cannot see anything on the road. No lines, other cars, curbs, pedestrians, nothing but those lights. I avoid driving after dark as much as possible, but I occasionally have to work night shifts for my job and have to drive in the dark. I live in a city, so there's really no reason for anyone to need headlights that bright, there's streetlights everywhere.

 

[tvguy]

Same place for me. The comical thing about it is that headlights back then were no where near as bright as they are todays, but the trick still works.

Oh, I know. I have a 1965 Mustang. The original sealed beam headlights it came with are long gone, replaced with brighter halogen sealed beam light bulbs, but the light level they put out is pathetic. Some upgrade them to LEDs and I have thought about it, but I have only driven the car once at night in the 9 years I have owned it. I do put the headlights on.......on high beam.....when I drive during the daytime so other people can see me, but not sure they are worth the cost.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Pickup Prices here are nuts. My closest Ford Dealer has 304 F-150s on the lot. Not sure what they are selling for in reality, but the prices on the website still list a $10,000 mark up over sticker price.

There is a lot of room for markdowns when shopping for a full sized pickup if you're willing to buy something on the lot. End of month, end of year, and after the new model year hits the lot can also help that pricing. Most dealers here have one month each year that they designate as "truck month," but there's a joke that it's always truck month. All of our trucks have been purchased new for somewhere between $14k-18k below sticker. That never happens with their SUV counterparts. Our friends opted for a higher trim Silverado when replacing their old Tahoe because it was significantly cheaper than any of the new Tahoes available.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I saw that at the Chevy dealership where I recently had some service done. The Silverado's on the showroom floor, about 6 or 7 of them, all had that 'dealer added options' sticker next to the Monroney sticker, with alarm systems, paint protection, pin striping, wheel locks and on and on. I looked at 3 of them, all were over $5,000 extra. And the lot outside had many more it looked like.

That's really interesting! I haven't seen a lot of that with the pickups here. If anything we're left asking for things. The three most common adds are bedliner, running boards, and tonneau cover. I just checked the Dodge dealer where we got our last two Rams...picked a 1500 similar to DH's. No sign of dealer add on's and dealer price is nearly $13,500 below sticker.

 

[tvguy]

There is a lot of room for markdowns when shopping for a full sized pickup if you're willing to buy something on the lot. End of month, end of year, and after the new model year hits the lot can also help that pricing. Most dealers here have one month each year that they designate as "truck month," but there's a joke that it's always truck month. All of our trucks have been purchased new for somewhere between $14k-18k below sticker. That never happens with their SUV counterparts. Our friends opted for a higher trim Silverado when replacing their old Tahoe because it was significantly cheaper than any of the new Tahoes available.

I guess it depends on the dealer and location. With 300 F-150's on the lot, some of them still new 2023s, and this dealer still asking $10,000 OVER MSRP, apparently that isn't their business model. I have heard, however, they are all top of the line fully loaded trucks. Your basic under $40,000 work truck not only isn't on the lot, my neighbor tried to order two for his business and this dealer wanted $10,000 over MSRP on factory orders. We're in California, he ended up negotiating with a dealer in Washington State, and Oregon on new trucks. The savings were great enough that it was worth flying up and driving the new truck back here. He said he got them both for $10,000 UNDER MSRP.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I guess it depends on the dealer and location. With 300 F-150's on the lot, some of them still new 2023s, and this dealer still asking $10,000 OVER MSRP, apparently that isn't their business model. I have heard, however, they are all top of the line fully loaded trucks. Your basic under $40,000 work truck not only isn't on the lot, my neighbor tried to order two for his business and this dealer wanted $10,000 over MSRP on factory orders. We're in California, he ended up negotiating with a dealer in Washington State, and Oregon on new trucks. The savings were great enough that it was worth flying up and driving the new truck back here. He said he got them both for $10,000 UNDER MSRP.

Location has to be the issue. We're in Texas, and it's common for dealer lots to be loaded with every kind of full sized pickup imaginable. Work trucks are also usually on lots, but most people work with the fleet managers if they're looking for deals on those. For the heck of it, I checked the dealer closest to us and they have a bunch of base level F150 XLs starting around $33k due to whatever local incentives they're offering. There were also a number of conditional incentives that they could also apply. Ultimately, I can understanding making that kind of drive if the local dealers are overinflating the prices.

 

[tvguy]

Location has to be the issue. We're in Texas, and it's common for dealer lots to be loaded with every kind of full sized pickup imaginable. Work trucks are also usually on lots, but most people work with the fleet managers if they're looking for deals on those. For the heck of it, I checked the dealer closest to us and they have a bunch of base level F150 XLs starting around $33k due to whatever local incentives they're offering. There were also a number of conditional incentives that they could also apply. Ultimately, I can understanding making that kind of drive if the local dealers are overinflating the prices.

Texas is it's own world when it comes to trucks. My FIL lived near Beaumont/Port Arthur and I remember flying in in 1987 and the Chevy dealer next to the airport had new Suburbans listed for sale at $11,500. They were over $18,000 here for the same truck. Later learned the GM was HUGE on selling Suburbans in Texas.........they are know nas "Texas Cadillacs" after all, and sold them to Texas dealers at lower prices. Of course they didn't have California emissions equipment on them, otherwise I would have bought one there and drove it 1,500 miles home to save money.