Jacked up ride height and extra weight do them no favors at all. But at least it isn't that terrible GM-sourced autotragic.

In high school I got hit by a car turning into a driveway across traffic (a Renault LeCar, of all things). I happened to be coasting downhill with my pedal on the road side at the top. The bumper went under my pedal, lifting the back tire of the bike off the ground, and I literally slid down the top of the bumper…

First thing that came to my mind. And the matching Eurovan. My local dealer had a couple of these as service trucks and shuttle vans.

If it's an automatic (and more so if AWD and an automatic) he did buy the wrong car - the automatics are terrible, and the AWDs handle like they are SUVs. I have other, more exciting cars in the garage, the 328! is the grocery-getter. But with a 6spd stick and RWD it is plenty entertaining. In it's oh-so smooth way,…

I think very common is stretching it a bit, but it is not unique certainly. But he really does mean it as "Porsche", as that is all he has driven for about 20 years. But happy wife, happy life, and all that.

VW recalled A2 Jettas for the same reason. But I doubt very many had been scrapped by then.

I am a consultant/field engineer in the enterprise storage world. It is not uncommon to have a disk fail or some other part fail while we are doing upgrades onsite. Quite often, vendor support will dispatch a part along with a tech. Those techs don't even work for the vendor, they are third party, and they don't know…

I wonder if BMW will ever eventually recall my car for installing the i on the badge upside-down. Yes, I drive a 328!.

Early Saab 9-5s were recalled because the airbag warning stickers on the sunvisors were too easy to peel off. I made sure that recall was NOT done on mine, I peeled those ugly things off 15 seconds after I bought it.

I'll likely be dead shortly thereafter. And with no kids, I could not possibly care less what happens at that point.

I do have a cousin who named his kid Porsche. Though to get it past the wife, it is spelled Portia. :-)

One of my coworkers was amused that I had bought a new FIAT Abarth in addition to the new BMW that I had bought two years previously. Then I pointed out that my Fiat cost about what ONE year at a state school was going to cost him for one of his kids, and that the BMW cost about what ONE year at a good private school…

The Porsche museum is well worth a visit. Sadly, I was there on a Saturday so they were not working in the workshop - you can watch through a glass wall in the museum.

I could see one of these replacing my old Range Rover someday. Mid-level trim, Blue on tan (same colors as my current), heated seat package and the towing package would do it for me. Maybe the audio upgrade too. $44K or so. Not bad.

I have heard PA described as Philly on one side, Pittsburgh on the other side, and Alabama in-between.

Don't even get me started on this one. Right in my BMWs owners manual it says in black and white that BMW does not recommend rotating the tires. EVERY time my car is in for service, the advisor suggests a tire rotation and balance, and an alignment. This on a car that has perfectly even tire wear, has no vibration at…

This is very true in my experience. Japanese and American car owner's manuals are pretty worthless, European car manuals have MUCH more technical information.

Nope, and for my last two cars I had read it front to back before I actually picked up the car, since it was available online.

Had the same thing with my Abarth. I called and ordered the two-manual set. They also sent me the dealer brochures for the car as well, which is kind of cool to have.

No rebuilt title, it wasn't even close to being a write-off. $1.4M to fix that car was like a $15K accident on a new 3-series back in 2011.