Can’t drive it or sell it. Love the car though! 

If you’re curious how corporate profits have changes the last 20 years and what they’ve looked during the covid inflation boom:

We also have 6000 lb SUVs traveling at 60 MPH on 6 lane roadways in front of local suburban shopping centers. The mass exitance of local shopping centers with high speed, multi-lane roads between them really messes with us. 

I tell my kids on a near daily basis “we don’t need it” and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an electric can opener in someone’s house. I mainly asked because this all sounds a lot like the financial advice style that says ‘just stop buying that cup of coffee & avocado toast and you’ll save $10,000’ while totally…

While the smart phone and internet obviously weren’t available for purchase, do you have any actual data that people weren’t making tons of frivolous purchases 30 years ago? They still had store catalogues getting mailed out, door to door salesmen, and the home shopping network to buy random stuff from. McDonalds &…

I was a teen at a private school when the popped collar craze returned in the early aughts, so it really hit that demo of rich white guy, and I don’t think they had any crossover with the kinds of people driving a WRX, let alone one that has been turned into a ute. They mostly drove their dad’s Audi or Land Rover. 

Nissan really shit the bed on the 3-row SUV craze. They tried to get the Armada to command Suburban level pricing without Suburban size. The reliability of those V8s was truly the only value they had in that class of Monster SUV while trying to get the price of much better options (the same with Infiniti and other…

When someone says I need reliable transportation for multiple people for less than $10k without regard for much else, the answer is pretty much always ‘the best Toyota you can afford.’ The big issues with the new turbo-V6s may even help cut down the Toyota tax a bit on the old reliable models.

As someone with 3 kids who once had 3 car seats in a 5-row car as recently as 2 years ago, I can attest that it is really hard to find a car that will fit them. The biggest challenge actually came from when a kid outgrew the 5-point harness and needed to buckle in, because so many car seats cover the buckles. If…

Sounds like a good place to start is banning forced arbitration between corporations and citizens. I’m sure there is a ton of legal stuff that would have to accompany that, but it makes for a really good consumer protection starting point. 

All small engines are best with a turbo, but I think the current engines are nice. My MIL has a newish Outback and I have an Ascent. I think the current engines are pretty perfect for a commuter that is fast without a bunch of extra power that can’t/shouldn’t be used in public. 

The Outback. Bring back the Baja. 

I would throw in Tesla, the Stinger’s short life, & Genesis growth as cutting into that small pie of luxury sedans that aren’t German (which is an entire segment that keeps shrinking). I work with a lot of engineers/contractors in their 20s/30s and many of them who drove fun single guy cars have moved into a Model 3, S…

There are probably more people that miss Suzuki. 

Technically speaking, almost everyone loves wagons now. They just want them to be tall and have big wheels.

The damaged sign was removed, but for whatever reason the prongs that held it in place weren’t.

Not unheard of to have the exit sign in that triangle/shoulder area between the lanes and exits. It is not ideal, as someone will eventually hit it, but surrounding topography may require it for line of site needs. Or someone was lazy and decided to shove it in the pavement because the area off the shoulder would have…

Relative to modern trucks, they are miles ahead. I almost even admire them when I see one still chugging along. I just think that is the turning point of the best styled boxy trucks before the late-90s era of truck design. Then it just keeps going down hill. 

I think you’re right. Ford was just a few years later before blobbing the F150. I knew it was mid-90s that trucks become bland bubbles followed by the modern trend to make the grill as tall as a bus.

Whatever is newest. Truck design peaked in the 1980s and then held pretty nice until the 1997 F150. Trucks have gotten progressively uglier since then, culminating in the modern Silverado.