I’m on the fence about this one. When I get a car worked on, I WANT the mechanic to test drive it, iron out all the kinks, get it fully sorted. I’d be frustrated if I paid to have work done, and then something was still broken that would have been obvious during a test drive.

Might take some wind out of the sails of Supra/BMW.

I agree. I think you’re right. At 128,000 miles, if I was being cautious, I’d get a compression test. Inspect carefully for rust. If all cylinders get compression, and if the undersides are relatively rust-free, probably okay. Probably in for one big round of services soon (timing whatever, water pump, plugs, various…

Also, law of nothing more expensive than a cheap German car.

I’m genuinely curious as to why you didn’t like the Crosstrek? I’ve never been in one, but I like Subaru’s generally. You avoided any specific complaints. Why did you wish that you had not rented the Crosstrek?  

CP. 6k gets you a bone stock BMW from your choice of chassis/ body style/ era. Bone stock >> modded. CP all day.

Sad. So sad. So very sad because, yes, there are like 30 or more different models of cars that, when I see them, I instantly know their rated horsepower. And to think, I could have used my energy to make the world a better place.

I didn’t know about ‘What it Takes’. As a car enthusiast and feminist, I am totally stoked to find this. Great article about the Mazda color materials design person. Thanks. Rock on.

A single, sheared-off strut from one of these?

Based on the size of that black thing (3/4"), it looks like it may have been sheared off of something larger, and doing a GIS for “wire harness routing clip” turns up a ton of tempting results. Maybe someone who as removed a bunch of fender and hood liners, and/or done a bunch of wiring will recognize it.

I think the plastic bit may be analogous to what’s pictured here, which seems to be a clip that holds a liner onto the inside of a hood or fender (in this case, Ford Focus). Maybe a sibling part to this?

Yeah, I’m going with the notchback crowd so far. I’m pretty sure it’s a notchback/ 3 box, with a pronounced notch (which goes against a number of the other suggestions)... hard to tell, so far.

I’m interested in a particular sub-species of the phenomena that you’re discussing. I’m interested in what could be called the zero-day exploit. I don’t remember the details of all of them, but I can recall a few in broad terms as examples.

Lol. Good point. A while back, I did the same thing with an ‘02 WRX. Your point is well-taken. I put a bunch of money into that WRX initially (clutch, gaskets, joint boots, etc.). However, once that initial pass was done, the car required no further maintenance after that. That’s what I’m hoping to do with the…

The whole car. I’ve had a couple of nice BMWs over the past few years, and maintenance is expensive, and I’m usually wary of street-parking in my ‘hood.

I have a serious question. Does anybody know the liability rules (either by law, or as assigned by insurance companies) for this type of crash?

“What am I missing here?”

I have thought that so much highway driving would be improved with one radical law. They should make it a moving violation to get passed on the right. Obviously, with a few exceptions certain situations. But in general, on a multi-lane, limited-access highway, it should be a points-on-your-license ticketable violation…

Portland, OR (and I think some other places, too), speed limit in a school zone is 20 MPH, always. What makes it stupid, among other things, is that it overrides any sign that facially restricts the speed limit to specific times. And there are many. So some streets have a sign that says, “School zone, 20 MPH when…

Nothing more expensive than a cheap German car. CP.