Note that VW of that era subsequently changed their minds about “lifetime” trans fluids but didn’t update their owners manuals. My girlfriends’ 2005 Jetta (2.5/6AT) is listed as lifetime trans fluid in the owners manual but the local dealer said corporate changed the spec by 2009 as those transmissions started blowing…

Great review, thanks!
As a longtime diesel 3/4 ton truck owner and EV enthusiast, I’ve been following the EV pickup developments for a while now and this is solid, useful info.

You don’t have to buy any of those things if you don’t want to, they’re optional. And I’ve been quite happy without them for years in my cars. And for those who want those things, they can be very useful. My elderly mom likes classical music, there is no classical radio where she lives, so the $5/month basic Sirius/XM…

Seriously. Yikes.

Ugh, back problems suck, I feel for you. Got some lower back issues myself from a few decades standing on concrete slabs all day. The Sonic seats weren’t great but the seats in my Fit Sport were worse (for me, anyway). Not bad for 30 minutes but 3-5 hours was painful enough to make it difficult to get up and out of…

I don’t think paying $15/month is worth it for satellite radio in my current new car, so there’s no way in hell I’m shelling out another $140/month for features on a truck I already spent $70k to buy.

Nope, tow hooks/tow eyes are definitely not required on US-market new cars. For example, the ‘18 TourX not only has no tow hook, but the front bumper beam hole where one would screw in isn’t threaded for one.

It’s hardly a slam dunk for tech employees, who will likely get paid less than they would in California, which in many cases more than cancels out Texas’ lack of an income tax.

Austin traffic is terrible, and houses in Austin are also getting very expensive. The more affordable houses are farther out and there’s…

1991-1993 B body: Caprice, Roadmaster, Custom Cruiser.

Body on frame with the understressed and proven iron block/iron head LO3/LO5 TBI smallblock

Other than the transmissions needing rebuilding every 120k miles or so, these cars are nearly unkillable, even in harsh police and taxi service. I routinely would see cabs…

People over on the Buick TourX forums really like the Trifecta tune. If I hang on to mine beyond the end of the powertrain warranty I’ll probably get it. But the Maverick 2.0T AWD looks really appealing, gotta give them a model year or two to iron out the first year issues.

The 17" and 18" wheels ruined the nice ride. On the 15s or 16s it rode quite comfortably (for its’ class) over pothole strewn northeastern US city paving. And the base NA 1.8 is no fun either, the 1.4T’s greater torque and power right where you use it all the time makes a big difference. 

The Sonic 1.4T hatch was actually a really decent small car. As long as you stayed away from the 17" wheels it had the best in class ride, quietest in class on the highway (as quiet as a 2019 Mercedes E450 at 70mph, according to C&D), well designed and functional infotainment system and either a 6 speed stick or a 6…

That depends on the individual circumstances. A friend has shit credit due to an ill-advised 2008 top of the market house purchase with her ex and subsequent divorce but now she makes over $130k after completing a masters’ and 2 years into the new high paying job. Once her credit score comes up she could easily…

Nah. The Bolts are all going to get fixed and be even better, with increased range. The Mazda will be slow and have crippled range and a plummeting resale value forever.

Not to mention that 13 fires out of around 141,000 cars = less than 0.0001% chance of a fire.

And the entire Bolt production run from 2017-2019 are…

Sergio is quite dead. Complications from cancer got him in July of 2018, following surgery.

Side note:
The Mayan Warrior related work that is for sale is the 800 lb fiberglass mask nose of the car only, not the entire art car. That car is still in active use and likely cost well over million dollars to build. IIRC just the lasers cost something like $40k each and there’s a bunch of them.

Depends on your point of impact, what angle, what height, as well as what speed and whether the thing you hit/what hit you was solid and unyielding or crushes and absorbs energy. I’ve seen frontal airbags not go off (or go off late) when the car nose dives and underrides the front bumper and crash structure, and…

Airbag inflators detonate in under 40 milliseconds, producing very high pressures within the inflator and are formulated to not produce toxic byproducts in the module or the passenger compartment of the car, nor leave anything but insignificant, non toxic residue after detonation.

The airbags most automakers use (GM, etc) are packed with cornstarch or talc powder when they’re folded up at the factory, so when they deploy you get a bit of a cloud of that stuff. And airbags get inflated with harmless nitrogen gas, generated by the raid burning of a solid propellant - usually sodium azide, or more…

(IIRC) The law says you have to build a certain number of them and make them available to consumers in the state. That’s all. Previous Ford and Toyota California compliance cars (Ranger EV and RAV4 EV) were made in small numbers and sold at a loss to enable those manufacturers to continue to sell the rest of their…