I don’t think you’d say that if you drove a gas Spark and a 1.4T Sonic LT or LTZ back to back. Gas powered Sparks are hateful little penalty boxes
:P

The RS springs/suspension calibration/wheels/tires ruined the ride, while not adding any power. We had a ‘13 LT hatch with the 1.4T and the 205/55-16 tires, and it rode very comfortably and quietly on potholed northeast roads and highways.

That’s too bad, in 1.4T hatchback form it was a genuinely good compact car for all around use, especially in the earlier years when the design language was more interesting -like the instrument cluster - and there was less turbo competition in the segment. Our ‘13 1.4T hatch was lively around town, had the excellent…

There’s a long history of foreign auto companies successfully selling a large quantity of bottom dollar garbage in the US. Yugo did it, Hyundai did it, Daewoo did it. Whether those companies successfully translated those early sales to long term success and survival is a different story....

That’s true about the transmission, and I’m looking forward to that tune and shift re-programming once I’m out of warranty and not making payments anymore. As for Subarus, the ones I would buy are more than I want to spend on a car, and their 4 cylinder engine quality seems to have slipped over the last few years as…

Congrats, looks great! After owning or managing five shops (and completely remodeling two of those, including concrete floor treatments), I would suggest the following:
- be aware that hot tires, spilled brake fluid, brake cleaner, jack stands, motorcycle kickstands and steel floor jack wheels can all permanently…

:P

“for sure going to happen”

And you know this how?

Uh, no.

The 1994 Lexus LS400 was 197" long
the 2019 Lexus ES is 196" long.

All Impalas have been essentially the same size for the last 20 years.
8th gen Impala: 200.0" long (2000-2005)
9th gen Impala: 200.4" long (2006-2013)
10th gen Impala: 201.3” long. (2014-2020)

And the 7th gen Impala was the B-body RWD V8 platform,…

The Chicken tax and exchange rate would’ve made it really expensive, and the US take rate for single cab trucks was small then and even smaller now (like 4%). As much as I love the idea I can’t fault GM for not bringing those here.

Nissan Frontier, base model F150, Ram or Silverado

I bought a new german-built TourX wagon for $28k a year ago (about $10k off MSRP). 250hp/295 lb-ft turbo 4, torque vectoring AWD, definitely calibrated more on the comfortable and quiet side of things but handles, steers and stops well. Once it’s out of warranty a Trifecta tune will tighten up the shifting and bring…

So, what happened to it? Slid it into a curb, popped the tire and hit a tree? (hood, fender, grille, windshield)

As of last year, regular cab pickups have about a 3% take rate in the US new truck market. Regular cab, 2wd, stick = a fraction of one percent of the US market, not even fleet buyers would take that.

I can’t speak for the newer ones, but my ‘13 Fit Sport handled like a go-kart, in a good way. Much like my 1993 Civic Si hatch, which was the same length, width, and wheelbase, but 10" taller. It was also darty and nervous on the highway at 70mph, and noisy too, like the ‘93 Si. And only about 150 lbs heavier, with a…

You definitely came out on the better end of that deal, the Matrix is a solid choice.

Yup. I don’t know anyone - and I mean *anyone* who would buy a new Yaris over the new and used competition at that price point. The cheapskates who want a tiny car with a good new car warranty buy the Mirage. The people who want a quiet comfortable highway ride (by the standards of the class, anyway) buy a Sonic turbo.…

Exactly.

Bingo. My ‘13 Fit Sport 5MT was a far better car in every way but mileage.

Glad you’re OK! - and that is definitely the way to use up a cheap car, anything worth doing is worth overdoing!