An S3 and a S6 cater to wildly different audiences, though. No one looking for a S3 is going to compare it to an A6 or even a S6 - size, cost, and performance are totally different, as are their target demographics.

It’s not the labor that kills you, but the pricing for the parts. Replacing one of the myriad plastic parts on a German car, even if it’s something as innocuous as say a windshield washer fluid reservoir, costs ridiculous amounts of money.

If you want/need the power, no. But if you want a cool, comfortable, executive-level car, an A4 is a far better choice than the brash S4. Very few people will be able to distinguish the difference between an A4 and a S4, and some of the boy-racer trim on the S4 can be off-putting if you want to look like an executive.

Have you looked at the right trim levels? Often the Prestige is the only trim that has all the bells and whistles, and they’re often in short supply. You can find tons of lease-special Premium and Premium Plus trims, but the Prestige trims are few and far between.

The Honda/Acura CVTs aren’t as bad as most. You can always opt for the 6-speed manual, something you can’t get in the 2-series.

At that price point why not a younger Audi 4? 2022-23s can be found for around $30k.

Those are indeed rare if you can find them with low mileage. I would strongly recommend an inspection to check if the oil feed filters have been replaced (a common painpoint on the twin-turbos which leads to premature turbo failure) and the water pump.

“Even though Tesla’s robotaxi event was gorgeous...”

A6 3.0T/55. I suggest it over the A4/A5 because those are the “entry-level” cars - the A6 and A8 are a step up in terms of comfort, refinement, and materials. The S-models should be good too, but the A6 with the 3-liter turbo has good base power with room to upgrade.

Well, accidentally (on purpose) if they happen to be black...

“Regardless, the Trump campaign has been putting on events for over eight years at this point. You’d think they’d have this figured out by now.”

There’s a HUGE difference between calling for backup and calling for a deputy. What would’ve happened if one of the backup units had an accident and killed someone? Or showed up on scene and shot someone accidentally?

First Gear: Musk should break out AI and FSD from Tesla as a separate brand in his portfolio. Keep Tesla the EV brand with FSD by TeslaX as a product option.

It still is, apparently. But it’s a bit late to the party - there are a lot of EV trucks from already established truckmakers that will preclude Tesla from taking over that market.

Paul Walker approves....

Surprise? I haz none.

At $20-30k, that’s a lot of slaving just to buy a robot nanny/housekeeper.

They started the even almost 45 minutes late, the livestream was choppy even on HIS OWN PLATFORM, the production values were pretty bad (camera angles, cuts, choice of shots, etc.). And that’s before we talk about Elon being a horrible, horrible presenter, and a strange, strange human (?) being.

First Gear: Anyone who watched last night’s Tesla event and is an investor should be concerned. From the delayed event kickoff to the poor production values, to the ridiculous claims, it all screams low-rent high-grift. I cannot fathom for me how investors can take him seriously with all his bloviating and “corporate…

The pop-up headlights were integral to the design of this car. Removing them is blasphemy, as is swapping in clear taillights.