I kid myself that I can’t be bothered to negotiate, since I spend a lot of time negotiating at work and don’t really want to do it in my spare time. But when it comes time actually to buy a car, I can’t help myself and end up spending a lot of time making sure I got the best deal I felt was available. It’s the idea…

But this is exactly the misleading rhetoric that leads many to believe Teslas can do more than is currently possible. It’s nothing to do with regulations, or at least regulations are a very small variable; it’s that Teslas do not have the capabilities for level 4 autonomy, just like every other production vehicle.…

Many of them will notify you if charging is interrupted. The Porsche app for our Taycan is pretty basic, but does let you create “charging profiles” that specify a minimum charge level. The Tesla app is much better in this regard, and that is based on my 2018 Tesla ownership. I’m sure it’s much improved now.

They do, but it’s pretty redundant since almost all EVs have their own app that will show the charge status.

A lot of EVs do support the plug and charge standard, which means you just plug in the charger and payment happens automatically with whatever payment source is linked to your account, or as part of the time-limited free charging that is bundled with some EVs.

Agreed, I just cannot watch his videos because his delivery is so annoying.

Yes, syphilis is also relatively rare.

Unfairness is sort of the premise of the incentives that drive our economic system. If you’re arguing for a collectivist society where resources are equally shared and owned by the people via the intermediary of the state, fine, but that system has proved time and time again to be not how most people want to live.

Yes, we live in an era in which feeling righteous and scoring points against the other side is far more important than taking meaningful action.

That’s a bit of a weird example, no? Who wouldn’t expect a compact Nissan of any kind, ICE or EV, to be boring? And even Nissan hasn’t really sought to promote the Leaf as being exciting. For the record, we had a Leaf, and it was a perfect city appliance car (quiet, comfortable, easy to park, economical and, yes,…

I get that a lot of remote campsites are far from charging infrastructure, but the average “active” Subaru buyer is much more likely to be pretty close to civilization when they embrace that active lifestyle. If, like the Ioniq 5 and many other upcoming EVs, it can provide power for the campsite, then a lot of people…

Saw one yesterday and thought how well the design has aged. Ford nailed the modern / retro balance with this one, and predictably people bought generic SUV blobs instead.

Yes, I’m not saying it can’t happen, but the premise of the article is just perpetuating the delusion that “equity” in a lease equates to making money. Tom is talking not about cars that increased in value, but cars that lost value more slowly than implied by the residual / buy-out amount.

It’s exactly the same as when you see a half-finished house for sale. Sure, the seller just wants to showcase his benevolence by letting you profit from his hard work. Or get out from under a financial disaster that can only get worse from this point on.

Almost without exception, every car is worth less when you sell it than when you bought it. Unless we are suddenly living in a bizzaro version of a capitalist system, this is loss not profit, it’s losing money not making money. In the specific case of leasing, you’re just talking about essentially the lease payments…

Yes, exactly. The premise of this article is really dumb, since “making money” is conflated with “my payments were too high.” The whole concept of “building equity” in a depreciating asset just shows how little understanding of money most people have. You WANT your leased vehicle to be worth much less than the buyout a…

I thought that the E9x M3 got the DCT.

E9x got the DCT transmission. The SMG was offered on the E46 M3, as well as the M5 and M6 you mentioned.

Yes, exactly. And dividend income is taxed much more favourably than ordinary income.

I love the GT3T, but even though the 991.2 GT3 is much more refined than the 997 GT3, it’s pretty loud and tiring to drive for extended periods of time, and the ride is noticeably harsher than the 991.2 Carrera models. It is my favourite 991, but maybe not to daily.