Ha, as i was typing that i considered the possibility your car might be a diesel, but decided otherwise….go figure! But ya, as the others have said, there is also diesel stabilizers, but diesel does have a longer life span. Putting a stabilizer in wont hurt anything, so personally, id put it in anyways just to be safe….

Yeah, for the most part. The other commenter is right about that battery, tho. Disconnecting the battery will help, but depending on the type and age of the battery (and temperatures in the storage area) the battery might still not last. Trickle charger might be ideal here, even just a little solar panel for it.

Gas in the tank is another thing. There might be conflicting opinions on how best to handle this, but- I would run the tank as empty as practical, then fill it up completely (so you have all fresh gas) and add a stabilizer. Most stabilizers will keep the gas good for 1-2 years. Best to make sure its an Ethanol stabilizer (like Sta-Bil 360), unless you put pure gas in. Then make sure to drive it a little so the stabilized gas gets into the whole fuel system.

Otherwise, give it a good wash and then a cover for it if you can if it’ll be outside in the elements. Depending on the storage environment, things could still start growing on it, inside and out.

Yup, that’s it. I remember now being told it was ice crystals or water droplets or something that caused the effect, like that article explains

There’s obviously some fancy science term for that, but we had something “less smart” we used to call it as kids. There was some “old ways” thing we were taught that depending on how many stars were caught in that halo was how many days until the next rain…. Maybe someone else will shed some better info, but your comment reminded me of that!

Yup, still a thing! Especially if a lot of surrounding villages are doing things, like christmas markets. Or even within a village with lots of small stops, like a bar-hopping type deal. The buses just loop, sometimes in both directions, through all the stops. They are separate from the normal transit buses, you gotta buy their specific ticket (or it’s free) and they are usually travel bus types rather than city transit buses. The inner-village ones are just passenger vans, though.

Lol…oops… Def didnt use the crap outta that on our trip last week!

Underground parking garages are very common over here. Most of the times these city squares are exactly that, a huge multi-level underground parking garage because these squares are always event spaces, and they are usually city-center so even when there isnt events, people have somewhere to park when just visiting the city. Yes, there will even be long lines of traffic waiting/hoping for a spot during event periods.

With that said, they do fill up, usually fast. So most events suggest finding public transportation. This just means people park further away and then take the bus/rail/etc the rest of the way. These Markets arent just for the locals, people travel from all over to come to them. So public transportation for long-distant travel, while totally possible, isnt always as practical (sometimes nor affordable or possible) for everyone. Plus, long distance trains do sell out. We just spent most of the season traveling all over Central Europe going to various markets.

Also to add (having just spent a good portion of the season going to various Christmas Markets all over Central Europe), a lot of times these central square event spaces are essentially the roofs over underground parking garages. LOTS of multi-level underground parking garages in all these cities.

But there’s only 6 seasons?

Obligatory /s

French car culture isnt much different than European car culture in general, for the sake of the topic here. Small displacement engines (1.6, or 2.0 liter usually) and small footprint because of space. Scooters and pedal bikes are super common around places like Paris, tho…parking, gas, weaving through the congestion, etc. However, some of the wagon variants of cars and these luxury cars you mention sometimes have a much larger footprint than small and mid-sized SUVs. Unless overhead clearance is an issue, like in parking garages, i don’t quite understand the reason for singling out SUVs here.

This, of course, is all stated with European sized SUVs in mind that share the same small displacement engines as other cars. Not the giant American sized ones that have much larger engines where emissions issues now come into play. However, all those luxury cars usually have even bigger engines and sometimes the loud exhaust as well…sooo…🤷

Ya, it’d be doable for sure with the craze of all the overland van-dweller builds the last few years. Ive seen plenty that meet all your requirements. But, whether it would be cost-effective or not for a work van would be the major issue, especially considering most trucks can do all that without being a special order for probably less than half the price.

Unfortunately not a lot of demand for such a thing, like you said.

Years ago i was in a spot where i needed the same as you for basically all the same reasons. The old van kept getting stuck everywhere, and then it actually got rolled from hitting a patch of black ice one winter, so it was totaled. These high-top vans had just started coming to market which was great, but I couldn’t convince the boss to spend the extra money for at least an AWD version, nevermind the higher ground clearance or low-torque options. I still got that thing stuck so many times…having a high-top I could stand up in was nice though.

There are, not sure what your qualifications for a “risen van” are, but Ford Transits and Mercedes Sprinters have an AWD variant. Dodge has had 4wd panel vans since the 90s, not sure if they still are, tho. There’s probably other makes out there, but that’s what I know off the top of my head. I think there’s also aftermarket companies that can mod vans into 4wd, but that’s getting a little crazy for just a basic work van.

Psst…im in your inbox…feeling the same dread. (Please dont reply, i might not be ready for another reply yet 😆)

Yeah…that’s why I switched from FF to Chrome a few years ago. I was tired of whatever extension it was that i needed or wanted at the time being only on Chrome. Of course, i’m back on FF now and it seems to be much better for what i need, so that’s good.

Hitching? You mean this’ll get our man married?!

Nah, 400 sites across the 3 fields, about 150-200 at each. But, yea- 12,000sq miles is about the size of just the Malmstrom field and I’m pretty sure that’s a 200 site field. Some of the info on the nets is outdated because it’s still referring to the previous generation of missiles. So, anything about Minuteman III is “current”. Minuteman IIs arent used anymore. The silos are also designed to withstand a direct hit. Of course that’s “ehh…for the most part”, lol, but still…

And to echo a different commenter, all this info HAS to be public knowledge because of all the peace treaties. Different countries are always coming by and doing their own inspections to make sure we’re keeping our part of the agreements. And all the missiles sit targeted at oceans, never at any actual targets. Of course if the need to target and fire happened, places are likely lined up. But the saying “we got our missiles pointed at X country because of Y situation” isn’t quite accurate because of all this, lol.

They arent exactly hidden. Just go for a drive in the missile field and you’ll see them, clearly marked and fenced. In fact, you can just google search for missile field maps and get all the location info, etc you could ever dream of. They arent hidden and they arent a secret. Good luck getting anywhere near them or doing anything with the knowledge of their location, though! They arent all that big, however. Maybe a few hundred sq. Ft of fenced area for most? Source- lived in Minot, ND. Have friends and family that are AF Missileers (key-turners).

AFAIK, Batteries in pokemon cartridges were only for the in-game clock, not the actual save files! So he is not safe!

Edit: i stand corrected! Ive never had or worked with pokemon carts specifically, but i have worked with & modded a lot of GB, GBA and N64 carts and not all of them have batteries, in fact most dont. I know n64 mempaks do, tho, but almost none of the carts. Info i had gathered from the various retro communities led me to believe that GB/GBA pokemon carts were a type that didnt need a battery for the save file, only the clock, but apparently that isnt always the case!

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