NHTSA crash test of a 6000 psi Tesla air tank in a rear-end collision:

Imagine the hydro test every few years...

Yeah, I don’t want a 6000 PSI air tank designed and built by Tesla anywhere near me, let alone directly behind me sitting on top of 800KG of li-ion batteries. 

SOOOO, by that logic, when I ‘borrow’ a car from the dealer for a test drive, I can keep going and it’s not a crime? I’d better get to the Porsche dealer before any of you all get there!

Yeah fuck nice people who can afford nice things. Bad things should happen to them.

I wouldn’t even let people ride my $400 Haro BMX bike when I was younger, no way I’d let them if it was 4k+.

I’m honestly shocked it was that “Low”.

Zero down is a terrible thing. More so if you have terrible credit.

I’m wondering if you play their game, will they potentially give you a lower price on the car? Then you turn around and refinance it through a credit union at the right interest rate and term. I feel like if they know they’re getting some bonus for selling their financing, they won’t mind a little more price…

And you have to assume that a less assertive customer would have just gone with what looked like the “better” of those two terms.  The whole dealer model just needs to go away. 

This is correct. Financially literacy for most people only goes so far as them knowing that paying their bills on time is good, and not doing it is bad. They don’t know or understand that paying on time on a 84 month loan is not as good as they think it is. 

Just bought a car yesterday and the finance person made some huge assumptions before meeting with us. She had the paperwork drawn up with zero down and 72 and 84 month options with helpful breakdowns of monthly payments including all of the extended warranty and add ons they offer.
I told her we were doing 10k down…

This isn’t a surprise at all. As a former car salesman, I can tell you that all dealers make more money on longer term loans already. Nissan (and every other maker) is in business to sell new cars, and if incentivizing dealers to push longer term loans does that, then that’s what they’ll do.

the greatness of automatic sliding doors cannot be overstated

I don’t get why he is comparing minivans to compact to mid-size two-row CUVs. It’s the equally gigantic 3-row CUVs that are bad minivan substitutes for fashion victims. The Odyssey is bigger than the Pilot because the Pilot’s third row is a complete joke, and the Pilot is on the small side for it’s nominal class. If…

Believe me even when you have two kids you are better off with a minivan. you eventually drive grandparents around with you and the minivan is the only option where they can actually get in the back seats. When you take that road trip to the beach or travel for christmas and thanksgiving you need all that cargo space.…

At least in some markets, it’s crazy how well Siennas hold their value. I know someone in Seattle who recently sold her few-year-old Sienna for more than she owed on it... to a dealership, which was glad to get it because apparently there’s high demand and they could move it for yet still more money.

One of my all-time favorite cars was a 2004 Mazda MPV, bought new when we had kid #2. It was perfectly sized and actually kind of a hoot to drive. Sold it to my brother cheap when we moved about 5 years ago and it’s still chugging along. It was a real bummer when they dumped it in favor of the CX-9.

Minivans are way more capable than crossovers and when you are at that stage in your life you will be thankful you have one. Minivan ownership is like the guy who is balding and decides to just shave his head because he has accepted his lot in life and doesnt care what others think. Crossovers owners are like the dude…

I recently rented a current AWD Toyota Sienna and AWD RAV4. The Sienna drove better, had nicer materials and engine nvh was in a different class. The turning circle was pretty much the same as well. A base Sienna is definitely more expensive than a base RAV4 but I rarely see base spec’d out CUVs.  If I had two or more…