I went with the reliable TDI route as I figured it had a lot less electrical components to go wrong. With 300K miles on an 18 year old car, the only issues I had was a seized idler pulley bearing (failed 20K miles after changing it), leaky fuel injection pump ($40 for seals and gasket), and one worn tie-rod end.

FCA might be behind in EV development, but they didn’t spend as much on R&D and produced some pretty good applications. I bought an off-lease 2013 Fiat 500e with 24K miles on it at the time. In less than 18 months, we’ve aded 32K miles to it and haven’t had a single issue with it. The Pacifica PHEV beat all the…

Anyone else saw this Civic and think Transformers?

Any chance they can throw a Torsen differential in there?  Our Fiat 500e, like just about every electrified vehicle, has a bunch of instant torque.  Accelerating with a turned will produces quite a bit a slip that the traction control system applies the brake the slipped wheel.  I’d much rather have the power diverted…

You’re going to need a lot of time and a lot of money too.  This makes me happy I can do a top-side oil change in my old TDI using a vacuum pump.  I know...apples and oranges.  I’m consider a used 8cyl Audi R8 with a dry sump...that should be much easier than the Bugatti. 

What an idiot...He’s completely disrupting the weight distribution

If you want to do make the financially-wise choice you’ll have to:

Yeah, the dealer didn’t want sell the car. They used the word “unfortunately” which is pretty much a dealbreaker for me. Unless you’re getting a cheap deal and don’t mind getting a challenging project car, you best run away and look elsewhere.  Most people paying a fair price would want some assurances.

So essentially the motor becomes a generator the instant negative acceleration is produced. It’s like the electric version of engine-braking in a manny tranny. Our Fiat 500e regenerates 2-6 kW when coasting from 10-40 mph; can get upwards of 40kW when going down a steep hill.  My friend rented a Bolt off Turo the…

Among friends, you can do a lot of things. My brother, brother-in-law (mechanic), and I are thinking about buying a used Audi R8 with a gated manual shifter as a fun alternative investment.  They don’t make those anymore and I’ve always wanted one from the old days when Ferrari and Lambos designed them.

Yeah.  That’s kind of what we’ve been doing for the last ten years.  We’ve got a friend with a family yacht and speedboat.  They are members at a nearby yacht club and country club.  I have absolutely zero interest in joining either, but it sure is nice to have a friend with access.

I’ve got a friend who has been an environmental engineer for B of A, Chevron, and Chase who swears that you don’t want a gas station of dry cleaner on your property. The contaminants can linger for decades, cost you a fortune to clean up, and good luck finding another tenant to use the space 15 years later.  I…

My wife seriously brought up buying a boat yesterday.  Of course we’d buy a 33% interest in boat to make sense or cents of it.  We’d only use it 2% of the time, so why not share the boat and its associated costs.  

I see your point, but I don’t just don’t see it in the Honda Clarity. I think this more of a Homermobile than a design-forward display.

Thanks for sharing.  My 300K mile old 2001 VW Golf TDI started blowing chunks of foam insulation a few months ago after sitting for some time.  I’ll check the blower motor...hopefully it’s serviceable.  

No, you got me there.  I use to watch a lot of dubbed Jackie Chan movies in the 90s, but that was 25 years ago.  Thunderbolt had some pretty cool cars and fight scenes.

Seems like it was a goal of Honda’s to make a horribly looking car; the proportions are very unique and the panels/contours look like an afterthought.  It is possible to get both form and function, but Honda just had to shun the former.  As a saving grace, the interior looks 5 times better than the exterior.

I generally agree with you, but in this case the limited space looks like one should expect more door dings, contamination, and it looks tough to do an engine-out service...which is pretty much common for exotics.

As I understand it, Harley is moving jobs and production overseas for overseas markets to avoid the tariff penalties. No job moved or bike produced overseas will affect the domestic product, but the American job and income is lost by this.    I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump talked to Harley in advance (they did go…

A lot of people have complained that Nissan seems to be spending all their focus on the GT-R and that all their other models blend together.  I guess they’re right.