It has some rust (I’m in suburban MD), but not as bad as I’ve seen elsewhere.

True, there are other choices. Given the size of VW’s lineup - and their ambition in the US market - it’s an obvious gap for them.

Three teenagers in the back of a GTI? She Who Must Be Obeyed will have none of it.

Yes, minivans aren’t as popular as they once were. However, my ‘00 Ford Windstar has proven to be cheap to keep on the road, it’s virtually theft-proof and cops ignore it. Now that I have kids who will have driver’s licenses soon, it’s looking better all the time...

I don’t mind the small SUV solution to the family transport problem - but, between purchase cost and maintenance, BMW is just too pricey for a family hauler.

VW’s lineup: Most readers here won’t care... But I have three busy kids - and it astounds me that VW has nothing in the US market that vaguely approximates the usefulness of a minivan. Yeah, the Routan was an interesting marketing approach to that problem - but it didn’t make all that much sense in the first place,…

To be fair, the alternators in V6 Cougar and Contour models are very difficult to access - and painful to change...

You’ll love SUV’s more if you understand my three-part definition of SUV:

Something I tell all my used-car shopping friends: Look for the check engine light to turn on for a few moments - and then turn off - when the car’s ignition is turned on. Don’t see the check engine light at all? Something is going on; stay away.

My approach: I own a small utility trailer. I can still move whatever I need to - and I have no problem with friends borrowing the trailer. There are people who can borrow my trailer - that I wouldn’t let borrow a pickup truck...

Celica’s from this era are still pretty cool; my wife had an ‘87 GT that was surprisingly fun to drive given that it really didn’t have that much power - though a 5 speed helped.

The car did 177mph 20+ years ago. But they’re not selling the 177mph car today. We already know the car no longer has the big turbo that got that speed - and other things have been done to dial the car back. Are the mods listed from the salt flats, or done later on? Lots of questions to be answered.

The price is an attempt to put a value on provenance and the record book. But this is NPOCP, which means we only care about what the car is - and what it can do - today.

True. But desperately few of those left.

As it turns out, I’m in the market for a handheld vacuum.

As it turns out, I’m in the market for a handheld vacuum.

Looks like the scooter came out of it surprisingly well (shown in last scene in video), though I still think the rider made the best choice in a difficult situation.

I had a US-spec ‘90 Trooper with the GM-sourced 2.8 V6 gas motor. It really was a decent truck. But Isuzu models from this era had lots of corrosion issues that seem to result in rot spreading everywhere underneath before it shows up on the exterior. Go ahead: Look for other boxy-era Troopers in the US. Few survived.

As one with who owns a 21 year old washing machine that still works great (2 adults and twin boys plus a girl - I fix it when it breaks): I like “non-smart” appliances because I can get them to do things that “smart” appliances don’t understand.

Shouldn’t this item be saved for Friday?

Your comment made me look it up: There were 2,793,353 Chevettes made over its 12 year production run.