TxFlOr

6/16/21

Late 90's into the 2010s. The Japanese stopped bothering and basically sold the same bloated, boring cars with minimal changes. The US cars were as generic as ever and had lost all the flair and numerous models that had been sold previously. Germans were as conservative as ever with the exception of the Bangle BMW…

6/8/21

Don’t love that Mitsubishi-esque DRL strip but otherwise the exterior ain’t bad. That interior is pretty amazing though, really looks like a full class above where this car sits. Hyundai/Kia have really been killing it lately with their new interiors.

6/3/21

There was a massive driver shortage well before our current post Covid labor shortage. You can expect these fees to go up if anything. They likely keep it a separate line item because of that fact. It would look like an MSRP increase otherwise every time they had to update it.

6/3/21

Glad I’m not the only one. Also turning 40 this year and find myself thinking a big cushy Buick doesn’t sound so bad... Still can’t quite imagine ever buying one yet but they do seem like a good value.

6/3/21

EVs have not been a profitable venture for legacy automakers yet because they had to invest in a whole new supply chain, new vehicle architecture, unfamiliar engineering and production etc. Once they apply their scale and general expertise to them it could very well mean major trouble for Tesla. The teardowns reveal…

6/3/21

The only possible saving grace any new EV startups may have is the much lower cost of electric cars. We keep hearing that EVs should be much cheaper to design, develop, produce and have much lower warranty claims. Given the success of various Chinese companies selling EVs it’s not unthinkable that a fashionable…

6/2/21

I used the frunk in my old Boxster more than the trunk (probably because it was a much better shape for storing grocery bags).

6/2/21

Agree these new 4 series’ have absolutely no character anymore without that awful grill, which makes me think someone realized they designed a generic car that had zero BMW touches and slapped that thing on in a panic. The previous gen was such a gorgeous vehicle even after all the years it was in production.

6/2/21

Just realized I meant that comment for the one below yours where he refers to this as a bit dull w/out the grill lol.

6/2/21

The main issue is the scale and infrastructure that China already has in place. Tim Cook has said there is nowhere in the world that can match the scale (and therefore lowest cost) of Chinese production. It’s why India hasn’t been able to compete with China on an economic growth level. They haven’t invested in same…

6/1/21

Never been a fan of most Ford products but this is the smartest EV marketing job by any mass market auto maker. It doesn’t look gross or weird or like an econobox, branding it Mustang automatically gives everyone an idea of what kind of EV they set out to make. It’s a familiar brand but a wholly different product…

6/1/21

It’s time for us Americans to admit that China has become the preeminent global superpower. Their economy is already 20%+ larger than our own. They’ve moved into developing countries to secure resources as we’ve withdrawn and become more insular. They have no need to match our military power or reach (what has our…

6/1/21

There’s no business case for a massive investment in ore processing when China already has such a dominant market position and a clear cost advantage. It’s the same reason most <insert product here> are made in China. They have the infrastructure, the workforce, business friendly regs etc. Makes no sense to do it…

6/1/21

Are there going to be stupid people out there? Of course, but there’s nothing like having a car like that for a long weekend. Was a fantastic experience to jump in and drive it wherever, whenever. Letting people check the car out, sit in it, take pictures etc was great too. Just the fact that it was a rental really…

6/1/21

Reminds me of when a group of cars (Mustang GTs, G37s etc) were surrounding me in traffic while we were stuck at a draw bridge and they all started revving their engines. I’m pretty sure they were looking for me to do the same in hopes of igniting the Hurican I was in. Luckily I was already aware of their…

5/27/21

It’s truly a fantastic vehicle. Handles better than the 440i it replaced. Sounds amazing, it’s deceptively fast. It’s every bit of what a Porsche crossover should be. In comfort mode it’s a posh luxury SUV, in Sport mode it’s a Porsche, changes completely. I was never an SUV guy either but needed something that could…

5/27/21

I’m seeing similar Macan GTS’s going for $10-15k more than what I got mine for a year ago and it definitely has me thinking but of course there’s no point when everything I’d replace it with is just as crazily priced.

5/27/21

I disagree. My 440i had the same interior as a 3 series and everything was high quality and fit together perfectly. The real wood trim, leather door panels, everything felt nice no matter where it was in the car. It all looked and felt like an appropriate step up from a loaded up non luxury car. Now their smaller…

5/27/21

Agreed you can’t throw SpaceX in with the others, they’ve proven that they can reliably and cheaply get satellites (and now humans) into space unlike Blue Origin which has done very little over the years.