There have been huge discounts on new Bolts lately - my friend bought a new one with a $40k sticker for $25k out the door, taxes included. So it would make sense to drop the prices of used CPO units to make them sell in the environment where new ones are so steeply discounted.

BMW is channeling Edsel, finally!

Depends on who is found liable when things go terribly wrong. Also depends on how deep the defendants’ pockets are when it comes to hiring good lawyers and picking juries - if only to shift the blame away from corporate and onto the drivers using their systems.

This is great, thank you for sharing your adventure with us - and not just the car part. Having never been to Belgium, that part was very interesting. Looking forward to the next installation!

Exactly. You can get a brand new 4X6 ramp gate equipped landscaping trailer for $648 from lowes. 1700 lb payload capacity. Harbor freight has folding trailers for cheap, too.

Thank you, Captain Obvious, for figuring out the exact point I was making. Even if you did it kinda backwards.

LOL!

Well yeah, it’s a wagon, and wagons that aren’t Subarus haven’t been selling for shit in the US for some years now. Everyone wants an SUV/CUV, which is a big reason why the TourX is a great deal, and also why VW discontinued the last 2 remaining wagons they had in the US market after 2019. Also, Buick never advertised…

All those years of waiting, and you get NA 182 hp/176 lb-ft for $27k MSRP.

250hp/295 lb-ft and AWD in my ‘18 TourX for $28k was a much better deal.

That’s a pretty good take. I can daily whatever I want, within reason, but having survived a few serious accidents and living in a city with some of the worst traffic in the US I like my daily to be both reliable and safe, and that would go double if I had kids. The fun weekend cars/motorcycles are a whole different…

Does Stern have any advice for enabling the advanced headlight functions of european cars sold in the US with dumbed-down control logic? My ‘18 Buick TourX has very good self leveling LED headlights; the European Opel/Vauxhall Insignia uses the same LED lamps but individually controls each segment to avoid blinding onc…

Has anyone talked to OJ about doing an ad? He probably needs the money

Fair enough. If you get a chance to drive one on a warm dry day, take it. Preferably in a place without much speed enforcement. That’s all I can say. TBH I wasn’t a big fan before driving it myself, most new Mercedes seem pretty sterile to me as newer cars go.

Just do *not* turn the traction control or stability…

Exactly. I had a CRX, a bunch of air cooled VWs, the parents had an ‘85 Golf, bought new. If you wanted to go fast without spending a lot of money you either built it yourself from a 60s or early 70s car (which handled and stopped like shit) or you bought a japanese 4 cylinder motorcycle.

Have you driven one? I drive my client’s 2012 AMG SLS several times a year and it’s a fun ride, with 563 hp, god’s own exhaust note, a scream at the 7,200 rpm redline you have to hear to believe and nearly 50/50 weight distribution.
The 11.7 1/4 @124 in that kind of luxury is an experience too.

Don’t get me wrong, I…

Only slightly related side note:
I love that we live in a time when a 7 second 0-60 is considered “slow” for an average used car. When I was a little kid, the exotic ‘83 911 SC cabrio with the then-new liquid cooled, all aluminum 3.0 did 0-60 in 6.4 sec.

This was a over $100k car in today’s money that was on bedroom…

Yep. A ‘13 Fit is the same length, width and wheelbase as a 1993 Civic Si hatch (which I also owned). The Fit is 10" taller and only about 220 lbs heavier, too. It’s as close to a brand new ‘93 Civic Si hatch as you’re going to find. Similar HP too - 117 for the Fit, 124 for the Civic Si.

But there’s no timing belt or…

Obviously my one car isn’t necessarily proof of anything, but the ‘13 Fit Sport 5MT I bought new has been quite reliable *other than dealer mechanic-caused problems*. In 8 years and 95,000 miles, the non dealer caused problems were:
1) work boots wearing holes in two of the thin factory driver side floor mats (warranty)
…

I dunno how his car was, but our ‘13 1.4 6A barely broke 31 mpg on the highway. We loved the car though, it was so quiet and comfortable for road trips and the turbo put useable power down when toy used it the most, unlike my ‘13 Fit Sport 5MT

I’ve owned a newer 3/4 ton long bed Cummins Dodge quad cab pickup for 15 years now and I hate brodozers like this one. Jacked to the sky, bald tires on awful offset wheels, usually found rolling coal - this thing is a hazard to everyone around it. And it’s fuckin’ useless. Too big, long and wide to do the offroading…

I’ve done some (much smaller) fleet management.

30 years @ 6 days a week of lots and lots of running hours and thermal cycles takes its’ toll on wiring harnesses, fuel seals and lines, power steering hoses, oil seals etc. and replacing all that on a huge fleet of ancient trucks costs more than the USPS has. They were…