No, they have figured out how to extract from shale and oil sands that were never touchable before. There are huge reserves out there that will be tapped as soon as prices rise back to a level where the extra cost and effort to set up camp becomes worthwhile. The huge boom in domestic production that dropped prices so…

If you think people will ever gravitate back to sedans en masse, you are sorely mistaken. Efficiency has removed most of the benefit of small cars. My GF bought a Renegade last year, and since she’s had it it’s never done less than 28 mpg. A small sedan might get what, 35? Even if gas breaks $3 per gallon, the…

Sterling Heights is going to be converted to build Ram trucks so that Warren can finally get the full renovation it’s needed for decades. That plant is old, and old school. Like workers still use chain hoists to flip the frame to install axles old school. And it’s been working 3 shifts 300+ days per year for several…

$5000 in repairs in less than a thousand miles. Yet Tavarish suggests I should buy one instead of an Accord Sport. Sure, the price is the same, but the cost sure ain't.

You make it sound like they’re suffering and forced to work in unsafe conditions for pennies a day like some Upton Sinclair character. That isn’t the case. They work in clean, modern factories with significant automation, and if something bad happened it is almost definitely because he shortcutted a written safety…

I consider myself a safe driver, and yet I drive my Jeep like its a race car compared to my Gremlin. When people had manual drum brakes, spear of death steering columns, metal dashes and little thought to passenger body control in accidents, you do everything you can to reduce the risk. When you can close your eyes…

How do you determine whether the phone is in the drivers hands, or s passengers hand? Further, it would absolutely hamstring certain professions. I drive in 6 hour stints regularly and use that time to make phone calls I literally would never have time for otherwise. I have a soft top Jeep so hands free just isn’t an…

This is a UAW plant, the employees that aren't brand new make well over $60k annually with better benefits than anyone short of government employees and earn frequent cash bonuses. That is well beyond living wage.

You're about a decade late, most everyone has it in their premium trim lines. My last company Ram had them. And let me tell you, on a black truck with black leather they were almost a necessity.

My WRX had the cold weather with heated cloth, and it was great on chilly mornings. Run out, start it, and drink coffee while my seat reached nuclear fusion sustaining temperatures and my wipers cleared of the ice build up. Best $500 the prior owner spent. Way better than the $800 he spent on ‘premium’ audio that…

Hey, I moved to MI from out of state twice! Then left again

I sandblasted my Javelin about 10 years ago. With sand.

I watched the pilot. I was extremely off put by their lack of safety and general hack-ness. Sandblasting without any sort of breathing protection? Silicosis much? And then lighting the cab on fire somehow, and not having means to out it out until the whole interior melted? Maybe that part was for show, but it sure…

40 years ago everyone said the internal combustion engine would be dead by 2000. The ICE still powers 99.9 % of every car sold in the world. The auto industry is very slow to make big changes, and a big part of that is the glacial pace at which applicable regulations change to favor advances. I doubt autonomous cars…

The first car I owned that I actually drove places was a 94 LX hatch. I liked the styling and packaging, and it was reasonably fun to drive considering it was a 1.9. I think that's why I'm strangely attracted to this. Some cheap chassis upgrades and sticky rubber would make this a nice cone killer for cheap.

I’m going to guess a car without airbags is safer for its occupant than pulling a rickshaw next a motorcycle with 4 people and half a fruit market on the back doing 40 MPH. It's all relative.

But then Tesla’s profits would've been less, er, uh, oh. Right. They don't have those.

The shop that quoted you $850 is smart enough to know that aftermarket parts are rarely true bolt ons, and wants to cover their own ass up front when it takes hours longer than expected for them assemble to coilovers, make the brake lines fit, adjust the camber plates, get it level, etc. Better to get it up front than…

High percentage markups are used as part of a price matrix on very low cost parts. For example, a bolt may only have a $.01 cost, but the time spent sourcing and selling the part far exceeds that. You wouldn’t see that kind of markup on an engine, which would fall along the lines of 15-40% markup. Remember, business’s…

Ill preface this by saying that I am a former tech, and have worked throughout dealer and independent service shops. I still DIY most of my own needs. With that perspective, parts markups are very justified, particularly in the case of a dealer. They usually have inventories of 6-7 figures so they can fix the…