All Ford had to do was handle their bad transmissions properly and we would probably still have Fiestas and Focuseses.

The Fiesta’s return to the US might be gone better were it not for the infamous PowerShift transmission. A friend in need of cheap, practical transportation ended up with one - and I didn’t steer here away from it, because I wasn’t then aware of the weaknesses of the dual dry clutch system. She’s now a happy Subaru…

The Honda Element. It was the perfect sport-utility vehicle with the emphasis squarely on utility. A flat floor and low load height meant you could fit things in the Element that wouldn’t fit in a suburban. Fit 2 mountain bikes, your girlfriend, all your camping gear for a week and a dog in it comfortably. Bags of…

I love it! It’s what Alfred would drive to the market to fetch groceries for Master Bruce. NP

For very good reasons!

Is there a robust collector’s market for bare bones old motorhomes like this?

Honda CBX

The best things come in twos.

Don’t even get me started on “gliders.” I don’t hear much about them now, but when DEF and particulate filters were initially required, lots of companies got into the business of “gliders” which were basically new trucks with old engines which weren’t required to adhere to updated emissions regulations.

You can still spend hours arguing over the value of your trade.

This honestly seems necessary, given that dealerships are generally a pretty old-school boomer energy type of establishment. Why would they ever change to adapt to an EV-focused marketplace with fair pricing when they can keep selling base model Mavericks with a $30k markup? Something has to make the push, and I’m…

Best Large Car: 2015 Toyota Avalon

Most of those at this price are meant to be a first vehicle that will get the kid from 16 to (hopefully) financially independent early-mid 20s. While cheaper cars can make that, myself and plenty of others cycled through what were $1-2k cars 10+ years ago that could have well been replaced by a better $8k car for the…

This. Our 2019 Outback will be paid off well before our 11yo starts driving lessons.

Agreed. Those cars are bulletproof when maintained. My local mechanic has a few they use as loaners that have over 150-180k and they are rock solid to drive and they’ve held up well.

I like my current plan of buy new car while they’re in car seats, give them that car when they can drive, then get myself something more fun. We’ll see how it plays out.

Seems odd that $15k is the “low cost” first car price threshold. I understand that used cars are more expensive, and probably in a bubble right now, but certainly there are plenty safe and reliable first cars for half that, right? Yet they only listed two vehicles under $10k. And just quickly skimming AutoTrader, it…

It is also an absolutely meaningless metric.

Soooo obvious. 

“and just set the room on fire.”