Looks like alcantera on the seat though, which is pretty to look at, lovely to touch, yet awful for anything your body actually interacts with.

Makes sense, and yet, it’s completely pointless. Bureaucracy to the rescue!

This is really the only reason to even post the story... for this response!

That’s fair. I would say every once in a while I see a set-up with black wheels that I do like, but mostly I agree with you.

I’d watch it.

I went ND on this one, but I don’t think it is too far off. If a PPI shows it to be in good shape, I think a little negotiation would make it worthwhile. Manuals in this type of car are getting harder and harder to find.

Also, can we stop with the black wheels? I’m not saying it always looks bad, but when it’s common…

Agree. Unless the rental agreement explicitly stated, “if you violate X, Y or Z, the vehicle will be reported stolen”, it’s just wrong. Also, if that is in their rental agreement, remind me to never use Avis.

Agreed. Violating a rental agreement does not mean you “stole” the car. You might owe them penalties/damages. Like you mention, I think whether a notification was provided or not is going to be a big factor.

There’s just no way they could have justified this in their Performance center... that alone would tack on $5k or more to the MSRP, and this is already going to be a premium to the Civic. 

Dumb, maybe even terrible. I approve.

Agreed, assuming $36k is reasonable for a low mileage, stock example in great shape... some quick napkin math: Deduct $5k for hail, and another $5k for the modifications... then we can talk. Maybe a little more depending on the overall condition too.

Spot on. $36k should be a low to mid mileage example in near pristine condition.. and stock! 

Clearly most of the posters already got this, but for those sellers who still don’t get it: aftermarket modifications LOWER the value in resale. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but in general, if you put $26k of mods into your car, you are either getting a small fraction of that back when you sell, or it may even go…

Yeah, one designer said “let’s not go overboard with the size of the grill”, so another chimed in, “ok, but we can still ruin it”!

Very true. And back to my now long running theory: That BMW designers have an internal bet as to which team can be the one to design a car so ugly, that nobody will buy it. So far the pot has to have millions in it.

I am certain it is absolute blast to drive. But like others have said, it’s just so ugly. I cannot figure out why BMW insists on doing this... they had to actually try to make it look this bad.

I meant the hybrid version in my comment... but again, was just anecdotal as I don’t have direct experience with them.

Are you supposed to look over the wheel? Like did nobody sit behind the wheel during development and go, “hey Jim, I can’t actually see the speedo... is that a problem?”

I’m torn because you aren’t wrong that they all look pretty nasty, but at least most of them are pretty functional. I’ve heard quite a few people that think the Ram is really easy to use.

I went ND simply because of the horror stories I’ve heard about the reliability of this model. Now, these are anecdotal so maybe it’s not true... but I went with it for my vote.