I don’t think maintenance spend is up a lot, to be honest. Individual parts may cost more, but you typically have to change them less often. For instance, a single spark plug now can retail for $15-20 for some Asian vehicles, whereas it was probably $3-5 25 years ago, but you’ll probably only have to change a modern…

You drive far more than the average person, so leases aren’t really designed for you. The terms would never make sense to make it work out vs. simply financing the vehicle. 

Exactly. 0% interest means it would actually cost you money if you paid it off early, given that the same money could be invested or left in the bank for even a small gain during that time. 

I’ve never seen those before. If I end up getting a Stinger, I need to stick those on the fenders. 

Did you turn it in Just in Time? 

It’s not too different from the rest of this NAFTA debate. The headlines are often very different from the actual facts, and as such the rage/angst/etc. is misguided and overblown.

The technology is out in the open, but I don’t know that anyone has actually used it for anything (other than maybe using it behind the scenes as a springboard for other ideas). Tesla has the manufacturing facilities though, which certainly aren’t cheap. But they’d be cheaper in liquidation!

Good call! I totally forgot about that.

This seems like a great deal. I paid about 2/3 that price to do three laps of Monza in a 458 a few years ago (including video). That was only about ten minutes’ worth of action. (But a lifetime of memories! As long as I don’t get dementia or something...)

Kudos for the detailed, relevant information and analysis. Posts like this deserve more stars! 

Not one Tesla story either!

I have a hard time thinking of the current Atlas as a crossover. It’s gargantuan inside, with three rows of seats. Doesn’t that make it a full-size SUV, like the Tahoe, Durango, etc.?

Maybe they’re just waiting a year or two in case Tesla goes tits-up and they can get everything at fire sale prices.

Harry Catchpole sounds like a screenname that would have been used by Kevin Spacey.

Right, but buying an ad is one thing, spending tens of billions of dollars to purchase another automaker is something different. Especially when that automaker has basically said “hey, use our technology everybody!” and it would cost a lot less to develop their own vehicles from it.

“But some of them did make sense, kind of sort of, and here are the five best examples from our the bots. They’re not quite coherent, but they’re close in a lot of ways.

The halo is ugly, but nothing is uglier than watching someone die for our entertainment.

I’m confused as to why VAG would feel the need to purchase Tesla. Didn’t Tesla open up the majority (if not all) of their patents for anyone else to use? So why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?

That’s the one feature missing on my current car that I wish it had, and I don’t even think it’s offered as an option. Hyundai, Kia and Ford seem to make it relatively easy to option ventilated seats, while a lot of the traditional “luxury” brands I’ve looked at (Acura, Mercedes, Jag, Audi) make it nearly impossible…

Sounds like a neat system that, if proven successful, could easily find its way into other FCA vehicles without sacrificing much in the way of interior/cargo volume or price.