Since IRS came back and the 1.4T became the base engine, it would actually be my 2nd choice for a $20K car. The higher-spec ones, no, until VW stops trying to convince me that V-Tex is a suitable material for automobile upholstery.

It seems a bit sexist to think that men shouldn’t swear around women or vice versa. I’m considerably older than Drew, and I guarantee you that among the engineers and scientists I know and have worked with, the women swear just as much as the men. You should hear my sister talk about her overentitled medical students.

It looks like a giant Nash Metropolitan.

This is similar to an anecdote about “urban mercenary” Repairman Jack’s early days in F. Paul Wilson’s series of novels. As a teen he helped an elderly man whose streetside landscaping was repeatedly being mowed down by damn kids driving crazy to install some steel bollards embedded in concrete within the…

I know in some states an employee on sick leave can’t be dismissed if they have a disability insurance policy through the employer (it was optional from mine), until the patient’s doctor determines if a claim on that insurance will become necessary or not.

I’d actually forgotten that the Aztek had a tent option. I remember when it was introduced as an option for the Chevy Nova hatch in the early 1970s; I wonder what the first example was.

Drums without power assist would make it a lot more exciting to stop as well.

The wheels have ten spokes, but the pattern isn’t the same. Mazdaspeed wheels had 5 concave spokes, and 5 convex spokes that sat slightly behind at the hub. The 6 wheels are more similar to the 20-inchers on some past CX-9s, possibly a newer design from the same supplier.

How American of you to ignore the existence of southern hemisphere.

There seem to be a lot of owner complaints in both Australia and the US, with Nissan settling class-action lawsuits and whatever the equivalent is Down Under. As with the Getrag dual-dry-clutch DSG used by Ford and FiatChrysler, it is difficult for an observer to separate what may be actual faults from dissatisfaction…

There’s an AWD Mazda3 in other markets so the necessary pieces could be put together, but US buyers seem to prefer lifted and high-roofed, and Mazda USA already has an excess of low-volume models.

Well, all the major tire manufacturers. Regardless of drive wheels.

They are bigger than I want, but I could be seduced by the chance of having a 5-door saloon again, especially since the 5-door is one of the few automobiles to offer a deep jewel green paint, strangely not available on the wagon. But the “attractively” priced 1SV lacks some significant standard equipment compared that…

Didn’t Toyota emails leak last year about their ambition to reduce wages at their US plants from average for the auto industry to average for manufacturing in the local area? Which I believe was from low 20s/hr to low teens, excluding benefits statutory and otherwise.

I remember the then-CEO of Saturn countering criticism of the styling by saying the Saturn customers didn’t care about style. My reaction at the time was that maybe it would have been smart to make the car somewhat stylish in order to attract some people who weren’t already customers. I think what she meant was that…

Chevy Cruzes built in Mexico have more US content than Subaru Imprezas built in Indiana or Hyundai Elantras built in Alabama, but you know what else? Mexicans who have decent jobs don’t cross the border to the US.

Sponges were usually small enough, but my mother who grew up poor during the 1930s did cut the 3M scrub pads in half for use. Plastic bread bags, e. g., could be hand washed and reused for storage. Aluminum foil could be reused multiple times if you washed cooking residue off after each use. About the only practice…

But what, besides badging, distinguishes this from a Grand Familia/808/818/Mizer? Like most Toyo Kogyo non-sportcar rotaries, this is a classy, stylish piston-engined car given a factory engine swap.

Statistically speaking, that appears not to be the case. In addition to much of Chevy management hating the car because it was developed elsewhere and forced on them, Chevy dealers hated it because it didn’t produce warranty service revenue, which in turn led to them putting little effort into selling it vs. the…

Unfortunately, the tea drinkers in an office will also end up tasting coffee unless a second Keurig machine is dedicated to tea only. At which point using bags and the microwave goes back to the front of the line for me.