Don’t bodge shit until you’ve learned how all the controls work.

Honestly, the “apathy inducer” for me was when Audi launched the S3. It was clear then that the German auto makers were no longer going to support manual transmissions in relatively affordable fun cars. Now you can’t get a 3-series with a manual in the US unless it’s an M3. I’m glad VW is still holding strong, but…

I had to ND this one, despite the fact that relative to 4Runners, this is a screaming deal. Also that generation is the high point of 4Runner design, IMO. I have a friend who had one all through college (2002-6) and is STILL driving it today. And I think it’s probably worth close to what she paid for it back then. 

I heard on the Planet Money podcast recently that one of the big reasons is that the automakers canceled their chip orders last year, basically forgoing their place in line. At the same time, we all bought bazillions of electronic devices through 2020, causing demand to go up. Some chipmakers lead times are up to 12…

Every time I read about these, I just want one more. The ranks of affordable manual transmission vehicles keep getting smaller...and yet here’s Ford with a better-than-a-Defender 4wd. Shut up and take my money, as they say. 

Let’s call this what it is: Racism. The NC GOP is in a race to find compelling “wedge issues” to keep their stranglehold on NC politics. This is a (dumb,) transparently racist new one.

They always struck me as “good” in the “you probably can’t kill this, but it’s not nice” sense. My wife had one in college and that thing was scary to drive. Plenty of power to drive 90 mph on the highway (she did, not me), but terrible brakes, soft suspension and a short wheelbase made it feel like it would roll over…

This is the PERFECT brief for a Mini. Yeah yeah, reliability, but they are super fun to drive, easy to park, and depreciate nicely. 

I like your take — Genesis ain’t trying to be BMW; they are trying to be 90s Lexus in the best way possible.

On a newer car I know and trust: when the fuel light goes on (or is about to go on, based on miles-to-empty display).

Correct answer: The hybrid Punisher-Confederate skull.

Came here to post this. The LexCruiser is enabling ever better David Tracy adventures. Can we get the editors to pay for it so he CAN’T sell it? 

I love this. Tracy has recruited both you and Mercedes into a band of merry bandits for his ill-conceived adventures. This is what this site really needed.

Upgraded navigation. I hated the nav on our 13 Outback so no way I was going to pay for Nav on our next car. But now that we upgraded to our Volvo, I resent the fact that their “Internet Maps” app is a POS and they charge $1,200 to enable proper navigation.  

Mom taught me to parallel park in Philly — including the regionally-dominant “park by feel” method — and is still among the best I’ve seen at it (she’s not one to really park-by-feel in practice).

Came here to post the XC60 Recharge. We bought an XC90 in January (low-end, T5 AWD). Volvo is offering $4000 or so on the hood right now plus whatever else you can negotiate. My only regret is not ponying up for the Recharge model, but it was +$20,000 on our buy and I couldn’t justify the cost of the ENTIRE OTHER CAR…

Don’t ever change, Torch. 

Three cheers for Tracy!

Congratulations, Tom. You have achieved a 100% perfect score on this request (every option is ideal). But this is definitely not as fun when we’re missing Tracy and Torch’s option is almost reasonable. Where’s the AMC Pacer?

This is a crap take. Jalopnik has always been one of the few places where you can be super into cars and not be a regressive “cars were better before airbags” idiot.