For reference:

There is nothing rational about paying $82,000 for a 20 year old hot Civic.

All it needs is the mention of some step-family member.

In that moment, Randall stopped owning a Ford Expedition. He picked up his keys, and began gathering the supplies needed to change his status among Apache Junction’s HOA: This is a case of Keystone, a hacksaw, and years of pent up frustration.

Not sure why but the tarp comment made me snort laugh,

$4,000 for a 20 year old gas guzzler that’s gotten the can opener treatment, with a tarp on the back? Hard pass. ND.

It’s not the powertrain I’m necessarily worried about. It’s the rest of the car. Those crazy doors, the suspension, the general electronics, the AC unit; ya know, the stuff that typically needs to be occasionally worked on, repaired, and replaced as cars age.

With fewer moving parts, you’re certainly going to have less maintenance, but the depreciation curve on this isn’t where it needs to be on it, and I’d probably aim for a 90D or 100D, especially at this price.

A very quick search turns up lots of examples of similar quality, with fewer miles and of the higher powered variety on sale. This isn’t a bad price, but you can find better deals if you look. The Grey P90D looks pretty sharp, better than the all white, IMHO. No Dice!

I’m all for common sense, situational awareness, and manual driving.

It’s not at all, but it is a nice feature, I guess. Like automatic lights? I mean, why not have it on there? I guess it’s unnecessary in the same way that most modern conveniences are unnecessary.

Depends on the vehicle... some are always on auto... and some autos suck and some are perfection. One vehicle we have, i never touch the wiper stalk unless i splat a bug

I really never got the point of automatic wipers. Is it really that hard to move your hand 3 inches away from the wheel and flick your wrist when you see water? 

I’ve been in cars with people driving in heavy rain say “well, my windshield wipers are automatic, so I guess I don’t need them yet! The car will know!” Unless, of course, their auto wipers aren’t...on auto.

A Morning Shift finally hit 5/5 wrong takes, congrats all around!

Thanks for these great racing write-ups, Elizabeth. Love your racing and technical coverage every weekend, keep the good writing coming!