So, this badge does serve a purpose...

That’s true. It’s pretty much the same with all ‘80s economy cars (especially American brands).

It’s not impossible to find a pristine K-car, just very difficult.

It’s about time. Scion was an interesting experiment, but a combination of poor advertising and lesser brand equity to the average buyer meant Scion wasn’t going to succeed long-term. The same could be said of Geo in the ‘90s, but GM knew to pull the plug earlier.

Masonite isn’t a bad choice until it breaks around age 15.

Toyota (and Lexus, I’m assuming) often used Masonite as the trunk floor above the spare tire. I believe they still use it in some cases.

The Levorg is really a WRX wagon, rather than an Impreza wagon.

That engine did make it into a few race cars. Unsuccessful race cars, but race cars regardless.

So the stripes I saw on that Echo weren’t aftermarket? Hm...

Yep, that’s right. This car was originally completely Ginster Yellow before the panels were swapped at the factory.

The original wheels look decent...

Subaru has built all of the engines for their Indiana built cars (Legacy, Outback, Baja, (B9) Tribeca) in Japan since 1989 (and still does, as far as I know). That’s been working out fine for them, though that will probably change with the increase in sales they are seeing.

That’s true. The Lumina was the first to come to mind, probably due to some bad experiences...

Right, the first generation Neon had frameless windows, unlike the second generation Neon.

Yes they do. I don’t have much experience with Neons, but it’s bad design no matter where it’s found.

The 1995-2001 Lumina should be considered one big design flaw, but especially for it’s rear doors. They had a very poorly placed sharp corner that was within striking distance of your head if you weren’t paying attention when exiting. I’ve done that on occasion when these were still offered as rental cars.

Actually, the doors on the F1 were inspired by a Toyota Sera parked near Gordon Murray’s house.

Meh, not ‘90s enough.

I’m not saying that we should ignore the VW problem, far from it (although I can see where my first post might appear that way). In a perfect world, we should be going after both pollution contributors equally. This certainly isn’t a perfect world, and VW is a very easy target at the moment. They are a big company,…

That’s a good point that poorly maintained cars (and the other vehicles you mentioned) are most likely driven fewer miles than these TDIs have been. I would be curious to see an estimate for those type of vehicles (both number registered and miles driven), but I imagine even an estimate would be hard or near…