There is no ‘cheaping out.’ Back when I dealt with it, the only place to get the parts was straight from Germany...no one had aftermarket parts.

So much wrong.

This. All day long. My nomination was going to be the B5.5 Passat....based on the same platform. It was ranked second by Jalopnik some years ago as the biggest pain in the ass platform to work on....right behind the Porsche 918 Spyder, which I believe requires a master’s degree in rocket science to wrench.

Any time I see those commercials I STILL don’t know what vehicle I’m supposed to buy?

I put my cat in the driver’s seat. Let her get familiar with it the vehicle and let her pick up my scent on the seat. Then put her on my lap (or my girlfriend’s, at the time). Just don’t drive too wild and they should be fine, but every cat has a different demeanor. If they’re pretty laid back they shouldn’t mind…

Those little terriers are a great dog. Much better ‘toy’ breed than a chihuahua.

I’m so sad I have no pictures of any cats in cars. I have lots of kitty pictures. Lots of car pictures. I swear all the cats I ever had were quite comfortable in vehicles with me....Luna used to just ride around on my lap.

It is ‘proper operation’ to use the highest gear available. It extends the life of the engine, uses less fuel, and is smoother...but when the torque ain’t there it just ain’t there. When my Jeep was still new it almost begged to run in higher gears, but it would pick up the speed quite a bit without much effort.

It is true for vehicles that are well sorted. The Taco I test drove was a nightmare...capable of shifting into overdrive at town speeds, but just as slow to accelerate in second from the same speed. For pure economy it makes sense, but holding up traffic on an on-ramp to save yourself a couple bucks isn’t excusable.

I noticed those Hondas are really good for that. I was amazed at how one of my old co-workers was able to corner in third and still get smooth acceleration out of the turn. My Jeep doesn’t quite make the torque for it...sometimes (depending on the conditions) it could...sometimes she just lugs a bit. Naturally, my…

Actually, on the subject of tickets, it’s true: all my tickets have been in automatics.

Totally a thing. Actually a big part of the reason I bought a manual this time around. 1st is my parking lot and alley gear, for 15km/h speed limits. 2nd is great for playground zones, 30km/h. 3rd is good for downhill 50km/h zones and those annoying 40km/h zones in small towns. 4th is a good way to limit at 60km/h…

Best one I’ve got.

Thanks. Boy those prices are cheap. I was under the impression these things were very mechanically sound. Regular maintenance, or so I’m told, is pretty much fluids and tires...although I’m not sure he’s put 300000 klicks on anything, so maybe he’s missing out on engine imploding fun. Anyway, he almost had me…

Hmmmm. Interesting question. Now that I think about it, most of the exes didn’t really drive. There was this one chick who bought her ex-boyfriend’s Sonoma. Actually a decent little truck and had a standard, but beat to Hell. Rusted through the body panels, no engagement feel on the transmission or the…

Well yes, but no. Not really. It does define their jurisdiction, at least. I think some people need it spelt out for them.

Dear High School Expanded Horizons,

I was thinking more along the lines of having an asset in the region that you could utilize, if you had to. Perhaps it’s more of a defensive aid for the South, but recon does seem to be it’s primary purpose....likely over SK or over the water.

Strategic first strike or quick response capability on soft targets, that’s my guess. It’s a flexible way to have some rapidly deployable force in the area and doesn’t cost tons of money to stage and doesn’t cause as much concern as, say, deploying a battalion or a carrier group to the region. High altitude…

Thank you. Couldn’t have said it better, myself.