Missing title on the Continental, hence the price.

The XJ sounds like a potentially easy fix, although I doubt that’s the only thing wrong with it. Still, not unheard of an owner throwing their hands up once they get overwhelmed by the “final straw.”

I’m in Indy, but I always troll for cheap beater 4x4s in State College…

We’re talking about a truck that gets (over)loaded with a bed full of wet wood and navigates tight and treacherous wooded areas, the kind that require the use of the truck’s rear locker and winch to get out sometimes. No I’d say three clutches for a quarter million miles of that kind of use is not unusual.

Until 1995, our “Pickup” was basically a Hilux that lost its solid front axle in favor of a torsion beam based IFS. Never mind that later global Hilux trucks went the way of this same torsion beam IFS later themselves. In ‘95 it was decided that the NA market would be better served by a lighter weight, lighter duty,…

No that’s an LC70 pickup variant with the roof chopped off.

Google “Honda 1.5t oil contamination” and reconsider. I actually suspect a 2.5NA+6A Mazda CX5 would hold up better over time.

Are you referring to the geen on my 4Runner? It’s a ‘96 3rd gen lol. Yeah if they still made a nice forest green (and some steel bumpers while they’re at it) I’d honestly be tempted to upgrade.

Meh, aside from “sad clown face” with too much painted plastic, I’m actually very thankful for the formula of the current 5th gen: traditional no-nonsense offroad hardware, excellent clearance, availability of a manual t-case and rear locker, classic 4Runner shape and they kept the lowering rear hatch glass. Dogs love…

Buy another!

This is my first Euro car after a string of Japanese stalwarts, I have a 3rd gen 4Runner waiting in reserve ready to step in at any moment.  But I gotta say I “get it” as far as what Euro-philes have been babbling about this whole time.  I keep reading that the later years of the B8 that had the 2.0TFSI issues…

“Water pump bearing is as bad as timing chain in that the whole shebang has to come out.”

Huh? The car uses a timing belt, with short chains for the cams at each bank. But you wouldn’t be messing with them at all to get to the pump. The T belt job is tedious in that you need to put that car into “service position” (ie…

Haha there are definitely a LOT of balljoints and bushings to keep an eye on, many alloy control arms/links. If you can DIY and shop online for decent quality parts, it’s not ruinous like going to the dealership might be, but a MacPherson strut Camry this is not.

How about a 129k mile (turned back most likely) rebuilt title Audi? I’m taking a walk on the wild side with my winter beater this year.
The positives: 2.8L V6 avoids a lot of the engine issues associated with the 1.8T, documented t-belt and clutch replacement and a bunch of other small repairs
The negatives: the…

My bad, too much reading between the lines.  But yeah, I’d think car enthusiasts with different sorts of tastes would be the last to favor sicking an HOA on someone just because they’re in a different slice of the automotive hobby.

Hey man, why aren’t you willing to put your trust in a violent criminal that is actively threatening your life? Surely he’s a reasonable guy! /s

If only it were so simple to put your trust into these violent criminals that are threatening your life. “Hey he doesn’t actually want to hurt me, he just wants my stuff.”

Threaten my life and I will do my utmost to incapacitate you as a threat in as safe and efficient a manner as possible.  That you were just after my…

You fondly remember the days of nosy HOAs run by power-tripping busy bodies?  Okay then...

“Still, the underside of my floors were coated in the stuff”

Free undercoating man. 

Also:

“they call it 4WD here, but it’s actually AWD for this BMW, though that doesn’t change much”

I will never not cringe. 

You’re not wrong, but I’m a NY transplant to Indy and have been rocking snow tires on all of my vehicles a year after I moved here. I did the all season thing for a year and just missed the awesome winter control too much. We do a lot of highway travel during the holidays and that’s where the extra security of the…

If OP wants a bulletproof ride, Honda’s oil/gas mixing 1.5T CRV is probably off the list.  I’ll give Toyota credit for sticking with the 2.5L, and specifically for implementing dual (port and DI) injection to keep valves clean.