I love the scene where he is trying to impress the girl by beating on an engine with a hammer.  

My wife’s MINI has summer tires on the OEM wheels and snow tires on Sparco Pro Corsa wheels. My 4Runner has the snow tires on the OEM wheels and the A/Ts on TRD Pro wheels. The wheels are practically free when compared to multiple years of paying to mount and balance snow tires 2x/yr. Plus it minimizes the exposure of…

Agreed, I don’t think the cultures of the companies are similar at all.  Maybe the button minimizing part.  

How do you know I haven’t done time?  haha

Accuse the other side of things you are doing is pretty on brand, though.  

Mirrors my experience. High school kids would bring things they made in wood shop and throw them at signs, and sometimes cars, from the back. So many times the bus driver would pull off and sit there for 15 minutes demanding someone snitch on whoever threw whatever item out the window. There were times that cars would…

We are close enough that my daughter could ride her bike to school.  I won’t let her ride solo, though.  Unfortunately, no one else in the neighborhood seems interested in riding to school.  

I was on the bus 45 minutes most mornings and evenings where I didn’t have some sports practice. It was pretty horrible for a small guy because people get bored on the bus that long. A majority of the beatings I took in school were on the bus. Once I got a car at 16, I don’t know that myself or my younger brothers ever…

It’s all cosplay. The half dozen Wranglers in my neighborhood that never appear to have gone offroad. The lifted, full size trucks with a tonneau covers parked in every driveway that grab a sheet of plywood a couple times a year. The kid that clearly struggles backing his Corvette into the garage so I hear 90 seconds…

Agreed.  This really feels like a gotcha piece.  It wouldn’t have been written if the brand were a different 4 letter word, IMO.  

MINI seems to go above and beyond to make customers happy. In 16 years of MINI ownership, my wife has had 2 instances where the car was undrivable. The first was a rather serious issue on an out of warranty vehicle, but since it was a known issue, they picked the car up at our house, repaired it, and brought it back…

It will still need tires occasionally (and 2x/yr if you run snow tires like I do). EVs still do have service intervals even if they don’t have oil changes. My state requires inspections. All told, at least once per year, someone that has their hands elbows deep in the guts of a car daily will be in my cars even when I…

I love the aftermarket wheels.  Very OEM+ look to them.  

In the before times, you could find last year’s models on sale and knock $1000-$1500 off that number.  I grabbed my hardtail XC bike for $3600 (marked down from $5200) just before the bike market went bonkers.  My road bike and gravel bike are both pushing 5000miles, so I wouldn’t mind upgrading on of those, but not…

My red 4Runner is Big Red.  Because if you don’t chew Wrigley’s Big Red, then... 

Just like MSRP doesn’t really matter, neither does what the manufacturer wholesales the vehicle. They are going to set the price based on supply and demand and that number will fluctuate just like it does now with manufacturer offered incentives.

Did you send an email back with your expectations or what you wanted to do instead of make the drive to the dealership? At the end of the day, they should be working for your money. If they can’t/won’t meet your expectations, let them know you will be happy to shop elsewhere.

The MSRP doesn’t change from dealer to dealer either. If manufacturers direct sell, they will set the prices at what the market will bear just like dealerships do.

It depends. Am I getting value by ordering online? Value can be a lower price (because no dealership model) or ability to customize. If I’m going to pay MSRP and end up with the same restrictions on color combos and options, I’d rather do the haggling game and save myself a few thousand in the process.  I’ve ordered 3…

Very valid. I’ve always been able to negotiate 10% or more off the vehicles I’ve bought. If brand X went no haggle and the competition didn’t, I’d have to see the model from brand X being ~10% cheaper by MSRP than the competition... because I know I can haggle that percentage off basically any car.