Ctkathy, my wife and are reviewing and have short listed the TurboChef double oven. Twenty minutes is too long for a preheat even in a conventional oven. One of our concerns with the TurboChef is the third-party service techs who have to perform warranty; we would much rather have genuine TurboChef service techs as we have come to expect with Miele. When they replaced the board, I am assuming it was an electronic board? If it was electronic, did the service tech wear a grounded wrist strap and take the necessary precautions in handing it? I have had it out with service techs who have replaced electronics and are ignorant of the fact that they must be handled accordingly. If you have seen the results of static discharge on electronic components, you would be amazed at just how little discharge can do severe damage. Under an electron microscope, static discharge just from touching a part can look as though a shotgun was taken to the component. Which warranty did you purchase as TurboChef only offers extended one and two-year plans? Thanks.

My car's job is to get me from here to there, and back, without a lot of hassle: as long as it does that, it stays. Plus ... without it costing an arm and a leg to do it: I have other important places to use my money. For those of you who like the small ones and have a yearning for a bit sporty and with some get-up-and-go ... ... have you considered Mazda? They have had some performance qualifications, and, lacking the rep of the Hondas, Toyotas, etc., can often be obtained ("used", that is) for a much lower price for the same level of car. Mine is over a quarter my age ... and I'm no spring chicken: it's 24, has cost me some money, lately, and may be about to cost me some more, so I'm wondering how much longer that it may go, with something over 180,000 mi. on its odometer. I'd like to get a standard tranny, as, being scarce and undesirable, they're cheaper - and use something like 6 - 10% less gas than automatics (which is a concern, not only for scarcity of the resource and pocketbook, but environmental reasons). Plus, unless someone is ready to crawl up my tailpipe, I not only shut off the engine and coast to signal lights that just turned yellow ... but am inclined to do it when travelling downhill, as well. As some of you know ... over seven years ago when I was travelling in my little Dodge "Colt" out from my townhouse in town to sleep in uncle's house prior to its sale after his death, to make the place look lived-in, often it was late at night and the road untravelled ... and I found that I could coast for over 16 of the 20 km. going out there (but the return journey was usually during the day, with more traffic, and coasting was much reduced). After the Mazda got hit enough to crookedify a wheel a few years ago, not too long after I got it ... I spent more to repair it than I'd paid ... but it takes a lot of resources to dig ore, smelt and manufacture a new vehicle, along with the petroleum-sourced plastic that they put into them ... ... and repairing requires few scarce resources and fuel/energy, is mostly work-related. ole joyful

I also feel if I buy new it needs to last 10-15 years to be worthwhile. With even less than reasonable care, this is not impossible. Everyone has preferences on new vs. used, but the frugal in me says a vehicle is to get me from point A to point B reasonably dependably. My last vehicle lasted over 15 years and cost to repair would be unreasonably high though I would have put some money into it had I not been able to find a low cost vehicle to last a while. There are the "thrifties" out there that are known as "beaters" and "winter beaters" that will get you around. I bought a mini-van from an estate for $500. It was 10 years old and had about 140,000 miles on it. Ran like new. Not well maintained but ran like new, good tires, and though the body had its share of dings and scratches it wasn't rusted out. For a backup vehicle it would be fine. Turned out I bought it at the right time since the pickup gave up the ghost. I've put on 20,000 miles plus (at least) and it's going strong. I just had to put $1000 into it but the mechanic said it's solid and worth putting the money into it. 24 mpg now, comfortable and reliable. Sat outside over the winter and starts right away, even at -30F. Granted, the heater in a van is a joke, but that's not the vehicle's fault, it's the designer's. A friend of mine offered to sell me one of their company vehicles. A Lexus SUV with a book value of $22,000, for what they owed on it, about $16,000. But that had 90,000 miles on it and I said for my vehicle purchases, it's off by a decimal point! Since I can buy a new Mercury Marquis for the same money, I'd prefer that to the used Lex. I don't need a status symbol. If someone doesn't drive much, it's really worth looking at going the beater route if they don't have an ego. Carry a cell phone for about $5/mo instead of a car club and you can call for help if you break down. I personally feel people should have one in case of someone trying a bump-n-rob, or something anyway. And if the older folks get a flat tire, accident (deer or otherwise) or something it's worth having. Nuff on that. Since I have to drive for work, I need a vehicle. Our society has done everything it can to make public transportation impractical for far too many.

RE Kia Soul: I had one (rental) after my car was totaled. All I can say is its seats and layout just didn't fit my body. ( I'm 5'6"). The model probably has changed since then, though. I don't remember anything about power, I think maybe the visibility was okay. My Protege was also underpowered, it struggled to get up to speed on an uphill on-ramp. A common problem with smaller "economy" cars, of course. Since I've had 2 cars with excellent cargo space for a smaller car (with the rear seats folded down, the Nissan Versa hatchback and now Honda Fit) I would very much hate to give that up.