Neutral: They should build stylish little sports cars, like Lotus...but affordable

I had to rent a stupid Versa, once. I didn’t go out of my way to thrash it, but I did find it more than capable of cruising at 90 without even trying. Imagine my surprise.

Why yes, I do need this on my life. For so many reasons.

Yup...and they said buying a cheap Compass was a sign of making poor life choices. But, hey, it runs and I haven’t had to tear out the engine...

Tough call! This car is insanity. Would I pay that much for that insanity? Probably not...but is it a fair price? Hmmmm

Yeah, sure, AI may have a golden rule about not killing humans in there...BUT, if it can learn to drive from humans, what else can it learn to do from us? Maybe we shouldn’t be the example AI learns from, maybe it should be something innocent, harmless, and mildly curious. Like the meerkat.

Exactly. In aviation, we talk a lot about simple, tried, and true systems. It’s not uncommon to see 60 year old machines still in the air, and the underpinnings remain relatively unchanged. I’m in experimental stuff, myself, and it keeps me up at night trying to anticipate any foreseeable problems (hint: all our…

Agreed. Quick back of the napkin math (in my head) says under 300/month for a five year purchase loan. Considering I’ve seen these cars go for 13 and change in Canada...shit, you could buy crap boxes like this for 150/month....

I seriously thought they made a concerted with this car. It’s marketed as ‘the’ econo-box to get and I have a hard time believing they’d sell it below cost...even if they make crazy markup on trucks and SUV’s.

Yup. An econo-shitbox commuter should be damn near bulletproof. Strip the vehicle down to basic necessity, put moderately comfortable seats in it, a couple extra cup holders, and Bluetooth. Should rock and roll to 250 000 klicks without anything more than regular service if it’s built decently.

Oh...wow. I’ve actually watched that one. So, so, SO terrible.

Well...if it’s Molson, it is.

This. As much as everyone around here sings the praises of manuals, but they’re a nightmare for manoeuvring...parking lots...traffic...city stop lights. No wonder they hired sorcerers and wizards to invent automatics.

Word to the wise: Never buy first-gen anything. Wait for the three year redesign or third revision...that’s when all the really bad stuff is wrinkled out.

Good points, Tom, and I’m going to let you finish but, instead of saying this 8 year term will cost you thousands extra, you should put some hard numbers on the page to really put it into perspective for people. Take the same loan comparison at 5 years vs. 8 years, for example. I can only do the rough math off the…

Lol. It really is the only way to go about it, isn’t it? My hat’s of to you, good sir.

Eyes wide shut, Holmes. I’m still trying to escape the trap of vehicle ownership. Kinda wish I never got hooked in the first place. Now that they’re talking about taxing robots and carbon impact; if I have a robot car, does that mean I get taxed twice?

Super relevant. We could go around in circles on this all day, but how much is a vehicle, especially when it shows up as an expense on the balance sheet, truly worth?

I don’t even know where to begin...

An ‘87 Zimmer I saw once. Guy was just doing some regular guy errands in the only car like it in Canada.