Agreed with towing. Try pulling a boat up a ramp with front wheel drive...it sometimes requires a shove or a tug. They generally do just fine towing down the road (certainly need to be more aware of the weight limits, and you’ll be slower accelerating). But with the large SUV you do lose the practical sliding doors…

FWIW...My friend regretted getting an Impreza instead of a Crosstrek because the wheelwells always got jammed with ice and snow, and made him have some close calls, and he thinks it basically caused one accident. There was a bit more airspace in the Crosstrek wheelwells so maybe it wouldn’t be a problem?

Sounds like a beauty. :-)

I would love to hear about that 929! Also, Mr. Mazda PR guy, do you guys happen to have any of the beautiful sales books / brochures of the ‘89 MPV (I grew up in one), ‘92 929, or ‘95 Millenia? It’d be amazing if you guys could scan them in high quality and share them in Google drive or something! :-)

The problem with this particular engine (Miller cycle 2.3) is the Lysholm (mistyped in earlier reply) supercharger is oiled with the engine oil. There are tiny oil supply tubes that get clogged up from oil gunk and sludge, which might have been prevented with shorter intervals or synthetic oil. Also, these needed a…

Yeah, like the supercharger. Silly Mazda, specifying 7500 mile service intervals on 1995 dino oil. Murdered the Lycoming screw.

That is almost perfect. If it was the merlot or dark blue color it would be perfect. But honestly, close enough!

I became the owner of Chromedilla deSable (dee-Saab-ley), the pictured 1996 Mercury Sable LS with 75k miles, after my 1998 Intrepid ES was totalled after being rear ended by a dump truck. The car was $3200, in excellent condition, had a full leather interior with zero vinyl on any of the seats, JBL stereo with factory…

I’m limited on vehicle choices due to my height. I despise the way Toyotas drive, and I rarely fit. My next GTI or Golf (or possibly Accord or Focus) will be a stick. I was smitten by the allure of the DSG. But at the end of the day, it’s just a good slushbox. It is fabulous in the mountains on a twisty road, I’ll…

It’s my thinking that if you can set a switch to make the automatic headlights not turn on when the car is started and the headlights are needed (for dark or rain), then they’re not implementing automatic headlights as well as GM. GM automatic headlights are automatic regardless of the switch position. They default to…

TL;DR: it costs the same to maintain a VW with a DSG as it costs to maintain an Audi. Those of us who are not of your financial status might find VWs with a DSG to be a bit expensive to maintain and appreciate the relatively inexpensive maintenance of the Aisin transmission.

Gotta also remember that one nice thing about the Aisin (Toyota) automatic transmission in the Golf, Passat, older Jetta vs. the DSG in the Alltrac is the service needs and expenses are significantly less. 100k intervals on the Toyota trans I think vs. 40k on the DSG...and some dealers still try to get more than $250…

GM is the only company to do automatic headlights right. 2005 Cobalt to 2018 Escaburbalade, you have automatic headlights whether you want them or not. Lexus, Honda, Toyota, et al...not so much.

Nice length comparison. But that Raptor looks like it is teaching its teenaged child the ways of the land.

What a hideous car. Ugh. I hope they never try to make a Golf or GTI this ugly.

I’m going to say Accord over the Camry. Maybe a Mazda 6 or an Altima. None of them are as reliable as a Camry, and Hondas have higher maintenance requirements than the others, but good to learn on. Also, they generally won’t put the teen driver to sleep like the Camry.

Aside from the transmissions and electrical systems that are really starting to struggle at this age, they’re not bad.

I am right there with ya, man! The major car services definitely skew the maintenance costs a bit though.

It was cheaper by 20 grand than a new comparable van to replace with used parts. It was only 5-6 years old and had 110k and 120k miles when the engine and transmission died, respectively.  My dad was cheap lol.

Eh, make a weekend diy out of it when the time comes, perhaps? Or just pay for the maintenance. If it’s not rusty, and in decent shape overall, an ‘02 Accord V6 here is easily worth $4k. Having a fresh timing belt / water pump / tensioner / idler pulleys on record is easily worth half of what it would cost a repair…