And a $45K pickup is a relatively basic ride these days, or should I say minimally accepted: 4 x 4 EcoBoost or V-8, four doors, but no leather or all of the sweet options you want, like the fancy towing package, etc.

Because, in the conservative world view, profits > everything else, including the self-hating, prudish, holier-than-thou morality they so love and allegedly cherish?

He was just being braggadocious.

I totally expected more neck tattoos in the mugshot.

Hah! My 78 Omni had a VW driveline—engine and transmission. Probably the most reliable part of the car.

M30. Sure, they leak, but they are the last of the unkillable BMW engines. And at 200-something-000 miles, it’s just broken in.

Well, many Prius buyers do want the world to know what they are driving, so I am not so sure they don’t want something distinctive. Gas prices are killing that car more than the looks, though a better design might have saved a few sales.

I haven’t followed it in years, but Caymans also seem to bottom out faster and that bottom never truly gets to the cheap territory. I’ve been waiting 10 years for a $10,000, corner-used-car-lot Cayman. Alas, the wait goes on. Boxters, sure, but no Caymans.

Neutral: What Could The Dodge Dart Have Been?

Dragged into the desert and set on fire? Or am I confusing the news items and flashbacks here?

New cars are compared to new cars, not what they will be worth in two, three or four years. Buying a car to protect against asset loss, particularly a sports car, seems like a longshot.

That iPad on the dash nonsense has to stop.

I don’t think you can lease a GT350. Same goes for Focus RS...not that I looked into the latter or anything.

Doesn’t the F-Type have a variety of six-cylinder engines with blocks cast as eights and the extra two cylinders essentially plugged off? From a company that made one of the most wondrous engines ever, the XK, that seems to be an abomination of everything they have ever done, despite how fast the car is and how sexy…

And, yet, Steve Saleen’s company is the one pitching this idea. The math never adds up with this guy.

We live on a steep, narrow dirt road in northern New England that does not get plowed by the town. AWD is not as 100% essential as snow tires are, but it really does make a huge difference. We’ve gotten stuck with RWD and FWD cars equipped with snow tires. The spouse now insists on AWD if she has to drive the car in…

The GTI (and related R, of course) really does feel substantially higher quality than the Ford. I just wanted the madness that the RS brings with it mechanically. And also I don’t want a turbocharged VW.*

* I know there are no guarantees that a 350 hp out of 2.3-liter engine will be any more reliable than a VW…

I was the fourth of four kids and survived many a road trip in the “way back” of a three-door Pinto wagon. It was actually a hoot back there, since I was not crammed in with my older brothers, a species known to be assholes to their younger siblings. Sadly, times do change. Older brothers, less so.

Like I said, we rarely gather the whole gang in my car. Based on our commutes (hers is basically the stairs from the bedroom down) and mine is a lightly trafficked 20 minutes or so, the cars work.

She does the school drop-off and pick-up routine. Comfort is nice, so we almost always use her car on weekends. But there…

Shit, I hope it families. I’ve got one on order.

We have three kids. Minivan (awesome sled; Toyota version armed with AWD; Limited leftover for more than 20% off sticker, etc.) handles family duty 90% of the time. Some 9% of the time, I will have one kid in the RS. Another 0.9% of the time, three kids and perhaps 0.1%…

Or, he was just a knucklehead like me and made assumptions he shouldn’t have. My bad.