You must have the world’s cleanest example, as going rate private party for one of those is $10-15k. Go to a dealer and ask for a brand new N52, and I guarantee you are going to pay more than what they’d pay you for a trade in if it were in running condition.

Well, the good news is she doesn’t speed and hasn’t had an accident with another car in 10+ years. There are much worse drivers out there. There is next to no public transit here and no realistic alternative to driving. 

Her vision is fine. No instructional course will fix the fact that she just does not have her head in the game when driving. It’s not about distractions like phones, it’s just her mind does not naturally focus on the act of driving.

Subaru Ascent. Bushes trigger it. Poles not so much. 

There’s a big gulf between being able to race and being able to win. While Alonso raced well last season, there hasn’t been a WDC winner over 40 since the 1950s, when the cars had way lower limits and the demands on drivers were very different.

They also won’t stop you from backing into a pole. We spent more on a trim with reverse automatic emergency breaking knowing that she’s bad at parking, but she’s still managed to have three (3!) collisions into stationary objects while backing up in the last 3 years. 

Battery warranties are a minimum of 8 years, and many manufacturers provide 10 years. That means there is almost no market for out of warranty battery repairs yet. Add to that the number of EVs sold 10 years ago was miniscule relative to the number of cars on the market, there was no standardization (even within…

That’s helpful, but a compression test isn’t going to tell you if the bearings are worn or the rods are bent. The software tests are similar in that they are useful but not foolproof. 

The problem with the Big3 is that they have had a lot of trouble building EVs efficiently. Some of that is just ICE mindset, but a lot of it is also established supplier relationships and union contracts that make it much more difficult to optimize compared to Tesla. It’s easier to fold inefficiency into the price of…

Yes they are:

Nobody who buys one of these new cares about offroad ability, handling, or sound except in a theoretical sense. The styling is just so the peasants can see that you bought the most expensive one.

They do know their market. The G class is basically worse in every way than the GLS for the actual things the vast majority of owners are using them for (driving to Needless Markup and the like), but people buy the G class over the GLS only because it costs more than the GLS. Why not make it cost EVEN MORE for no…

You may get a few suppressed chuckles from a certain crowd if you tell them your ride is “A Lexus Texas.”

Have you ever tried to private party sell a late-model commodity car in that price bracket? It’s nearly impossible. Someone ready to drop $50k on a car doesn’t want to deal with an individual. Too much money is at stake and the individual can’t help with financing. Totally different situation from a $5k car you throw…

But not personally. You pay those marked up prices no matter what. Plus, even cash isn’t free to a merchant. There’s security, handling, and theft costs associated with cash they don’t incur with credit cards. 

Anybody who complains about getting in/out of a Miata has never driven a Lotus Exige. 

Third gear: valuing used EV batteries is no different from valuing a used engine. Nobody really knows how long that junkyard motor will be good for. You’ll pay more if it has low miles, or has a warranty, or is otherwise desirable.

I also think bright colors look a lot better on sports cars than CUVs. I’d rock a highlighter yellow Porsche 911. Don’t think I want my family hauler that color. 

I feel like Wranglers are basically a sub-brand at this point. A survey of the whole brand is going to include a lot of Compass and other models that are basically just low quality CUVs. 

The part you really need to watch out for is the paw.