1st: It’s a good thing VW’s previous efforts to be the biggest and most fuel efficient have never resulted in any unseemly misbehavior with catastrophic consequences.

Compare the performance specs on this thing to the Countach from my bedroom poster in 1987. It kicks ass, bro. This is not hard to understand.  

Word. It’s comfortable and roomy enough for daily errands, and is a superb GT for long weekends. It’s not rocket science.

Don’t be hatin’. These new sporty CUVs are great. Even our new RDX is crazy fun in the real world. There is no place I will ever get to explore the limits of a modern super sports car. Give the people what they want, and get over the snobbery.

I won’t hate on it. But... for a very little more money, you can get a Hyundai Kona with a smidge of ground clearance, higher h-point (easy in and out and car seat finagling), and a bit more power. I’m sure the Rio has better MPG by a fair amount, and that may be wise in the long run if you really don’t need the extra…

1st: We had a 2004 Outlander and loved it. Good handling, tight as a drum, plenty of space for 3-4 people. We quickly outgrew it with three kids and got a minivan, but I always felt it was vastly underrated in its day.

Certainly agree with kid having skin in the game. With our older son, we bought the car, and he buys all gas, registration, maintenance and repairs ($2500 and counting), and half his insurance.

I was looking at those super cheap used BMW i3s for a while. Used Leaf is probably a better/more reliable option. Limit their range...

The right answer is to give your kid whatever you’ve been driving, and get yourself something new. My 5-year-old already knows he’ll be driving a 21-year-old Tacoma one day and Dad will be driving something fast again. ;-)

1st: “In the first half we sold more than we produced because we could lower our inventory, but you can only do that once,” Samuelsson told ANE.

The mechanical stuff is well covered in other comments. I’ll mention things related to cleanliness.

The Meguair’s kit works well.  You just have to plan to repeat once a year.  No big whoop.

I’m not saying they don’t. But I bet a lot of them got a 4R because they are Toyota fans. I bet they could sell a lot of Jeep/Bronco form factor (open tops, removable doors, shorter wheelbase) with Toyota reliability.

3rd: They still make Savannas and Expresses?  

FJ could be just as expensive. Different demographic - off-road toy like Wrangler and Bronco vs comfortable yet capable overlanding/family mobile like Defender and Grand Cherokee.

The new one could have been. Could have been very different to 4Runner, and just as expensive. They’d sell both (4Runners to take on Land Rovers and Grand Cherokees, and FJs to take on Wranglers and Broncos), as many as they could make.

Come on, Toyota, just make a new FJ. Do you not like money, is that it?

We got a nice deal (lease) on a ‘21 Acura RDX last weekend. And a great trade-in price on our ‘19 MDX. RDX seems to be in plentiful supply, maybe because there’s a refresh around the corner and they got ahead of the shut down for refitting the factory? Anyway, they really wanted to make our MDX into a CPO, and I…

Get off my lawn

I hate the Cherokee a little bit less with every subtle revision.  Still wouldn’t buy one.