I wish there were a Wheeler Dealers type of breakdown on the cost and eventual sale of the car. It seems like it would be in the hole. 

Blaming Trump is the first answer for the Gawker family 

How did the ergonomics improve by being thrifty?

Nope. $65,000 for a smallish pickup is still shocking. Too expensive by $25,000, regardless of its capabilities offroad. 

The 2001 Escape/Tribute was competing against the RAV4, CR-V, Tracker/Grand Vitara, Sportage, and Jeep Liberty. I probably forgot a couple. In that group, though, the Escape/Tribute had a peppy V6, decent driving characteristics, and nice features. It was interesting, and its material quality was decent then (even if…

“Pizza box”? Never heard that phrase for CUVs before.

A base A6 is $68K in Canada, without incentives (according to Audi's website).

The truck you described is easily more expensive than a base A6. I'd choose the A6, dollar for dollar. 

The prices crept up on the compact trucks, getting too close to full-size trucks. Now, the full-size trucks have spiked so high in price (and grown in size) that they created a void for smaller trucks. Sadly, the manufacturers are still asking too much for the smaller trucks.

You tow a boat 800 miles to water, and you’re leasing?! (Kidding)

That’s because this is a nipped/tucked Borrego.

This car was always an also-ran in my 1990s mindset. It’s because, in base form, it’s a FWD car, and I dismissed Mitsubishi as not serious about the segment. Fast forward to 2019, and I see red one of these in VR-4 guise just slowly rotting away in a parking lot, and I wish I had the means to give it a good home.

Yes, the current Santa Fe (3-row) is to be replaced by the Palisade. The current Santa Fe Sport (2-row), however, will change to the Santa Fe. Hyundai confused things by making the “Sport” a separate model, kind of like the Ford Explorer Sport was just a 3-door Explorer.

The power is intoxicating. The look has become boring.

I don’t know... I thought it was the price of the Touareg and its 2 rows that hurt its sales. It was considerably more expensive than, say, a Ford Edge (a more applicable comparison than the Tiguan, which more directly competed with RAV4s or CR-Vs.) The all-new Tiguan feels cheap (not unlike several other VWs of late)…

Ggood. Keep those ugly things off the road. 

The “pending redesign” explanation seems like something that would impact the Santa Fe, which is on its way out in favor of the Palisade. The Santa Fe was supposed to make a dent in the crucial 3-row market, but arguably failed. It seems no more successful than the Vera Cruz was.

New Tiguan > Touareg?

The Santa Fe is surprising. It’s a good-looking vehicle and seems competitive on paper. 

Is a silhouette of a cute-ute really teasing anything? It would be different if they teased a headlight or something, but the silhouette looks like almost any cute-ute. That said, I do look forward to the reveal. They made a great-looking Aviator, and the Nautilus looks nice.