Late Stage Capitalism? (3 Viewers)

[Pat Hartman]

but in my car there is nowhere to fit anything aftermarket

That's the manufacture fighting back. Of course, charging a fair price for the audio system would be a better choice for the consumer. The audio systems in my new cars always seem to cost $2500+ and none has been worth anything close to that number.

My AC stopped working last month in the midst of a heat wave of course. The dealer wanted $450 to even assess the problem. Luckily, I found that my model had an extended warranty for the AC due to some known problems. I also checked the cost with a dealership in the next town and found that because of the extended warranty, they were not charging to assess the problem. Turns out my car was faulty so the entire repair was free. A few years ago Honda switched to some super duper "freon" that needed high pressure but didn't bother to upgrade the components and so the high pressure was causing the components to fail. Just FYI a "freon" refill cost $450 with the super duper stuff instead of $30 with the old stuff.

 

[KitaYama]

so you're that person I can hear from 2 blocks away disturbing the peace!
Just kidding

I know you're kidding. But just as a clarification, sound quality and sound loudness are different.
In US, it's very normal to see black people in cars listening to rap music that can be heard from a mile away. (Source: Movies I've watched)
But Here, it's very very rare to see a car with loud music. And even if you find one, because the genre is not rap, the loud sound doesn't hurt as much as the BUM BUM BUM of rap songs.

The only time that you can listen very carefully, and MAYBE you're able to hear a small sound leaking out of the walls of my car is when I'm driving through the winding roads of Odawara to Hakone.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I've seen straighter shoelaces when tied. Obviously, the repeated switchbacks are for change in altitude, but even so... WOW!
(Thanks for the pix.)

And as to the BUM BUM BUM of cars and trucks with rap music, my wife and I often say that we should invest in a hearing-aid company's stock because someone's going to have a low-range-to-mid-range hearing loss very soon, if they don't have it already. When I was playing music on Bourbon Street, I had a 4-foot tall, 2-foot square speaker column behind me for the organ. (It's called a Leslie Cabinet.) My low-range hearing is still better than those guys. Though the bass is disconcerting, some of the lyrics that come through those truck speakers really bother me, because we have child-care centers in our neighborhood.