I live outside of Denver on the side of a mountain. Last year we had 10 snows of 12" or more. Aside from that, this is Colorado - RWD+Snow tires is not legal at times in the winter (unless you have chains) - it’s called the Positive Traction Law, and it’s due to the number of folks that said “I’ll get winter tires”,…

Malibu called; it wants its shifter back.  

Being another choice in a crowded field, especially when you don’t have the options that your direct competitors do, is not a good place to be.  That’s phoning it in, although I do see your point.

The only sports-SUV thing I’d really consider is the Porsche family - the Cayenne is gravity defying, and I suspect the Macan is even better. I’ve done the top-end RR Sport, and it ... was a really freaking fast Range Rover. Trying to corner felt ~WRONG~ somehow - like trying to do the same in my Wrangler, which…

Hmm. So I haven’t driven the Accord since the mid-2000s V6/6-speed manual days, and I haven’t driven the non-V ATS since... 2014?

I own a car for 3-4 years. Long term reliability is not anywhere on my list of concerns :)

Exactly. I remove things from the list because I’m ~not~ going to sit there and negotiate to figure out what hte REAL price is - that’s a waste of my time. Price this right and you’ve got a potential sale.

I live at 7000 ft outside of Denver. NA motors are the fastest way to see the world slowly here. That’s almost a 30% HP loss at the crank. And it goes ~up~ from here. The ATS was significantly slower with the V6 than the I4 here, as was the CTS. Hell, I’ve paced Corvettes over the passes here in my old GTI before I…

I’ve never looked at the base models - I’m always aiming for loaded out when I’m shopping, so I’ll admit to not knowing how the base 3-series is there (I was looking at M340i xdrive and the like, as well as the S4/C43). C43 had the best interior, the audi had the best materials, and the similarly priced (at the time)…

Spectacular.  It excelled at handling and feel - just overpriced for what it was, and a let down everywhere ~else~ (especially the interior, imho).  I almost bought a used ATS-V for a toy for around 41k - that was appropriately priced.  

The performance coupe I looked at in 2014 they wanted 55k for. Wouldn’t budge either. And I never want mild options - base models suck.

Wish I could, but RWD is a two-season car where I live.  Now if they’d put the stick on AWD, even with the V6 I’d have been damned tempted, but I couldn’t stand the interior AND the I4+AWD transmission feel.  

All car manufacturers, now hear this: I’m never owning a boat anchor of a N/A V6 again. IF you put one in as your upgraded engine, your car is forever off my list, as it’s the one engine that is both mediocre stock, and rarely has anything worth a damn from an aftermarket perspective, as it doesn’t have the…

The ATS handled better, had a worse interior (by a significant amount), worse engine choices (NA V6) as an “upgrade”, and cost as much as the competition - with a worse dealership and ownership experience. Looks are subjective, agreed, but that interior was NOT good, and the drivetrain was unrefined and just bland…

Turbo, AWD, decent looking interior (not ATS), I’d buy a -V as a daily, if it’s priced right (40-44k).  Nothing more.  Do want to see what the real-V is.  

Well, “Suck for Luck” worked, didn’t it?

Oh lord no.  The small Benz convertible.  Eww.  

About 4 years.  The small convertible had one with the base engine until 2016 or so.  

Ok, I have to admit that I don’t really get this. 35k isn’t all that much - approximately 25k in 2004 dollars, which is about what a well-optioned one cost back then, and is close to the average selling price of a car these days. I know a lot of folks that daily Wranglers, and my 2016 cost 33k well-optioned (lease,…

HAH @ the second paragraph, but you make a great point with the first- especially for a 2006.