“The cost of the neglected maintenance is astonishingly high: the West Side Highway, for example, could have been kept in perfect repair during the 1950s for about $75,000 per year; because virtually no repairing was done, by the 1960s, the cost of annual maintenance would be more than $1,000,000 per year;”

I agree, the chrome makes them look like a cheap afterthought. It’s not so bad on the red car in the article, but with that blue these vents need to be matte black I think to look right (or body color). Assuming they’re relatively easy to remove, one could give them a matte spray or even get them wrapped.

I suspect the Genesis is really going after a different group of buyers. I like the aggressive looks of the Stinger, but it is probably too over-the-top for people that are used to the relatively conservative styling of MB and Audi.

I would argue that the current Malibu looks better than the SS by a wide margin. To me, the SS is nearly as bland as the last GTO.

It IS fun to open peoples’ eyes to how nice they can be. When I had a 2014 Optima I dabbled in driving for Uber a little on the weekends during our peak tourism season and at least a dozen different people uttered something to the effect of “Oh, wow, this is nice...” when they got in. I’m sure they saw what I was…

This is on my list of vehicles to check out when my lease is up later this year. I’d probably lean towards the 4-cyl because my area is full of old people and 30 MPH speed limits so the extra power of the V6 would probably just go to waste... but I’m not against the V6, depending on lease deals available at the time.

This seems like dangerous territory. The news is full of men trying to get help with the semi they were nursing... I hope this turns out better for all parties involved.

Yeah, I do like that a lot... although I think we’ll need some sort of space for new humans over the course of my next lease. Even though my wife will probably have a Cherokee/CX-5/something by then, I don’t think I can get away with having a coupe... I guess it’s worth a try though!

I’m with you - I think Infiniti’s styling is one of the best.

Great, now they’ll think even LESS of train travel...

Great pictures, and the article just reaffirms that I reaaallllly want my next car to be a Volvo. The S90 is sexy as hell and would probably be my first choice, but the practicality of the wagon can’t be ignored. They may still be a touch out of my price range though, unless I can score a demo model...

“Up to” 150 but for the majority of its run from NY to Boston it’s not even topping 100 since it shares a lot of track with Amtrak’s NE Corridor.

$1,000 for anything that runs and drives is a fair price. Tack on an extra $500-700 for a one-year-only French car? That’s a price I could surrender to.

It’s a cute trick. I want to think it’s just coincidental timing, but the cynic in me (whose voice seems to keep growing louder and louder...) thinks a cancellation request must trigger a small charge so fools like me end up owing them hundreds of dollars. The percentage of fools is probably small, but if it’s greater…

I had that happen to me many years ago. Called to close a credit card, which had a zero balance at the time. During the 24-48 hours it took to process that request, my card was billed for the “automatic monthly protection” or whatever they called it at the time. So now that it had a balance, they couldn’t close it.

Being underwater on a car loan isn’t always a bad thing on its own, depending on the factors involved. For most people it’s usually the result of one bad financial decision after another, but in some cases it could actually be preferable.

Good point! It’s definitely a conversation starter, like an elaborate face tattoo.

That’s a bummer, because the Seattle area is one of the places we’ve kicked around as going to if we decide not to stay where we are!

See for me it’s the opposite. I don’t mind the front end, and the lake pipes are cool, but the vinyl roof and strange growth sticking off the rear make this a hard pass. Also it’s about $5,000 overpriced in my opinion.

I’m somewhat eager for that, because my wife and I are saving for a house and have no prayer of affording anything bigger than a closet in the current market.