This isn’t about stability control or traction control, that’s totally separate. Those systems are totally safe on track anyway, even if they slow people down.

I know you’re trying to make a joke, but these systems make no difference in crash testing. They’re made to prevent crashes in the first place.

None of this makes sense to me, especially for BMWs. Why can’t they just make sure that stuff is off during tech inspection?

99% of the time the matte finish is a easy-to-maintain vinyl wrap rather than true matte paint.

It’s just that you suggested that leasing or short-term ownership was such a factor in the purchase of these cars back in the late 80's and early 90's that it would be something that engineers would factor into the design of the vehicle as an excuse to cut corners. That’s simply just not true about the LS400.

The kids aren’t in school, they’re young toddlers in childcare according to the article. They could go on vacation any time. If it said two adults and two teenagers then the travel budget would make a little more sense.

The kids aren’t in school, they’re young toddlers in childcare according to the article. They could go on vacation any time. If it said two adults and two teenagers then the travel budget would make a little more sense.

Sure, but what family is traveling internationally three times a year? That’s crazy and irresponsible for a family trying to pay a big mortgage and student loans.

Maybe because for some people having children feels like it gives them a purpose in life and thats worth the financial cost and time investment? I don’t really know much and am just guessing here though...

Those estimates I quoted are assuming the person isn’t trying to save any money on their Disney trip, got prime-time direct flights, and are staying at a pricy hotel. I was assuming It’s pretty unusual to do three expensive trips there per year and have them all be peak-season cost. A similar trip during low periods…

Car insurance isn’t that expensive in cities if you never have any at-fault claims. Chance of theft is pretty low on new, expensive cars and your insurance doesn’t care that much if other people hit you once in a while. Usually its just replacing or painting a bumper anyway.

A trip to Disney world from NYC would probably only cost about $5k total. $1200 for tickets + 1200 for hotels + $2000 for flights + $600 for food and misc stuff. $20k per year means they’re doing relatively expensive trips to Asia/Europe/Africa/South Am/Caribbean at least once per year and aren’t doing it cheaply, not…

The reason they have so little left is because they’ve structured to pay their student loan debt off as fast as possible. If they didn’t have that there would be almost $40k left over.

Also there’s no way you could’ve leased a Lexus LS back in 1989 because Toyota/Lexus didn’t offer leasing and since it was a new model from a completely new brand there would be no residuals established for 3rd party leasing companies to use. Probably wasn’t even possible at all to lease an LS400 until years after it…

I didn’t say it didn’t exist, just that it wasn’t common at all. That would be especially for Japanese brands. Just because one person did something doesn’t mean it was prevalent.

Lexus was a new brand back in 1989, so I seriously doubt anyone would be giving away an new, untested brand without full status and credibility as a perk for an executive. Anyone in those positions would be getting a typical established luxury car like a BMW or Mercedes.

-The first owner would only own or lease the car until the warranty was up

I remember that car...

Haha I guess we will.

I’d be willing to put my near-new S-Class against a 70's Merc head-to-head. I guarantee that with fit and finish, panel tolerances, materials, and overall quality it would win. While those old cars may have been very expensive and didn’t use any plastic, materials science and manufacturing technology have come a long…