The Forester XT was the last gasp for that. It didn’t look all “rugged” (aka slathered in black plastic) and had the turbo motor.

Yeah this is pretty stupid.

Can BMW confirm they are performing an experiment on its loyal customers to see how ugly they can make the 4-series before sales drop?

If it is $35-40k, maybe I’d be interested.  Much rather own a Toyota than a VW (Golf R).  But I’m sure dealers will try to make it $50k, and at that point they can keep it.

Or better, a Mark VIII that actually had some power and modern amenities.

Was going to make the same comment.  If I am buying a Cordoba, it would have the round headlights. 

Yep.  Started looking at cars again (hoping the market goes back to normal in the next year) and am already sick of everything having 20"+ wheels on it.  No, I don’t want the 21" option.  It is a SUV that needs to survive a pothole. 

If I could find a decent one I’d consider it (not for the dog kennels). Used cars aren’t exactly a good buy these days. I didn’t buy one in the past because my commute is 80 miles round trip and I can’t charge at work. So a Prius made more sense (and was cheaper).  But it doesn’t look like I’ll go back to commuting 5…

“My” vehicle doesn’t need to hold dog kennels.  While the Polestar 2 looks like it is a hatch, I’d also prefer the real wagon.  Still a few years off from replacing my car though. 

Toyota doesn’t seem to think it is hard, almost every car they sell is either a hybrid or has a hybrid option. 

Yeah. These are pretty beefy, crash tested kennels, so the XC90 would probably be the better bet.

I think you are right. Maybe its not the “best” deal in the world, but I don’t think it is a bad deal if you can get a car for sticker and sell your current car for an arguably inflated price.

My searches were for PHEVs with the hope of finding something big enough for two dog kennels, but the search was not very fruitful.

Yeah, that statement is in line with the “where are the small cars” article from a week or so ago. Written like a manufacturer can just whip up a new model (or even take an old one off the shelf or from overseas) and just start production at the drop of a hat.

I guess if you didn’t read about every other hyped car launch in history you could claim you didn’t think this would happen.

While I despise markups by useless middle men, this doesn’t sting the same way to me as a dealer taking a vehicle that is supposed to be affordable and marking it up so it isn’t so affordable.

Right. And often it was the guy with the crappiest car who figured they had nothing to lose (except transportation, because they had a “crappy” car because they couldn’t afford a better one).

Right? I might take the “factory delivery” option if I can avoid $1200 in delivery charges. Where is that?

Just get a Civic hatchback, put snow tires on it if you need to, and call it a day. Reliable, good gas mileage, hatch gives you some room to lug crap to college in a few years.

I’d guess many of them are carrying too, legal or not.  Certainly illegal if they go into DC.  Probably illegal where they are camping out in Maryland.