Go look at classic muscle cars. They might have not come this way from the factory, but having a big chromed belt-driven blower sticking out of the hood has been common throughout the 1900's. Go to the Wikipedia article for supercharger and look at the first photo as an example.

They are still running in that they are still mobile. However, they unexpectedly still shudder, pop into weird gears (including neutral), surge unexpectedly, etc. And it’s not just because people aren’t used to DCT style driving. Ford royally screwed up by sending this transmission to production.

There have been multiple rounds of improvements. But it’s all been duct tape and baling wire. It’s like having the latest Windows or iphone update. Yeah, you’re up to date today, but there’s still going to be another fix next week. These things are still giving people issues today, even people on the latest revision…

Have you read those articles that I referenced in my 2nd paragraph? They mirror my sentiments perfectly. The handling was all right as in chassis dynamics, but the steering sucked. And by all right, I mean that it was about as good as the crossovers and SUV’s that it competed against, despite being a wagon variant of…

Tom, I replied above to others, but just wanted to say that I almost bought one back in December after your article. I have to agree with articles like the Road & Track and TTAC ones about the Regal, which mirrored my experience much more than Bradley’s. It did not inspire me to part with my money, because it felt…

THANK YOU. I posted above, about the TTAC article, and the Road and Track review which were both on the front page of a google search and definitely had negatives to say about the TourX, and I can’t believe how many armchair quarterbacks are in this thread. It’s nice to see someone that actually considered putting…

I went and almost bought one right when that Tom McParland article came out. The author here is incorrect that “no one has anything bad to say about them.” Just like everything else GM, it’s a throughly phoned-in product. They aren’t playing to win, they’re just playing to get your money and then promise you “Yeah we…

With the 2nd question, about the best time to sell a car. With cars, depreciation is exponential. They’re a depreciating asset. So the best advice is not to buy them in the first place. But once you have, you want to drive it as long as possible. Depreciation is the largest part of new vehicle ownership, and nothing…

You can avoid much of this by refusing to leave the title blank. Don’t listen to a buyer’s sob story about how they are buying the car for their brother and you need to leave it blank, or whatever. “Great, then why don’t you tell me your brother’s name, and I’ll write HIS name on the title, and if you just give me…

Well then if they made shitty interiors, and didn’t sell, then they failed, didn’t they? Also, they were NOT starting to achieve that. Sales numbers fell off a cliff. The way you’re talking, you’re making it sound like it was an upward slope. They weren’t achieving anything, they had to take this out to pasture and…

Doesn’t matter how great they were, if no one bought them. At its core, the job of a car, from a manufacturer standpoint, is to increase profits. The experiment failed not because of the performance of the car in a vacuum, but how well it did out. The ATS-V and CTS-V didn’t lure the public into showrooms.

It doesn’t matter if paying off debt decreases your score. NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER pay interest or other fees to build credit. Focus on your wealth, and the credit will naturally come along with it as a side effect. If you have loans that you can pay off, pay them off with a vengeance. If you have credit card or…

You’re blaming manufacturers, but they’re just building what people want. Honda and Toyota have hit it out of the park, for example, with the latest Accord and Camry. Don’t matter, everyone wants a CR-V or Escape. Auto manufacturers are just responding to the market.

It’s called buying used, homie. Jesus fuck, buying a 15 year old a $25,000 car. I’ve been driving since the 1990's and have never bought a $25k car.

That’s not frugal, that’s just budgeting.

Ah, I was off. Still, like I said, between rebates, incentives, and plain aggressive pricing, that brings the delta down quite a bit, and again, an F-150 is more truck than a Ranger.

Like $45,000 but it’s also a larger vehicle with more options, and the F-150 often has many many many many rebates/incentives that bring the price down a significant amount, whereas the Ranger is a truck that you’re paying sticker for. I’d rather pay $39,500 for a $45,000 vehicle than pay $40,000 for a $40,000…

People that can live with 2 doors buy a Miata or a Corvette. People buying a truck are doing it because it can tow, but then it can also replace the Accord, or the BMW as the family hauler as well. Bump that Ranger up to a Lariat Crew Cab 4x4, and you’re now at $40k.

Cry me a river about truck prices. Because do you know what GM, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota call it when someone buys a truck and then complains about their recent purchase being too expensive? That’s called a sale. If you go whine, bitch, and moan about the price but you still buy it, then all of your belly-aching means…

People are impulsive. Car buyers, by and large, would rather buy off the lot. Delayed gratification is a lost art. If you implement that model, then the consumer will just go to the next lot over. If a customer leaves your lot, there’s like a 2% chance that they return.