Just to be clear, the alleged patent infringement is not the use of a dial itself, but how the vehicle responds to the different settings. From Car and Driver:

As long as you go into this knowing that there will be additional bills, and there will be, then this is a NP. It’s a mid-aughts MB, so at least it is post biodegradable wiring harness. But with 160K+ miles, there will be wear and tear maintenance needed, and if you’re not a DIYer, then that will get pricey.

On the contrary, I bet she has voted on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars many times!

So I did work for a semiconductor mfg that was a leading supplier for the auto industry. While I, personally, didn’t work on too many products that were for the auto industry, I did work on a few an many co-workers and friends worked almost exclusively on auto parts. I’ve been away from it for almost a decade now, but…

I worked for one of the largest producers of semiconductors for the automotive industry for over 20 years. You are correct that they do not use cutting edge chip technology, but it isn’t to save money. In fact we struggled to get the big 2.5 to move to newer processes (which were still older cost reduced fabs vacated…

Yes, in the novels (and a movie or two) it was a Bentley.

“Think Subaru Baja.”

As a seventh generation Texan, I’d like to agree with you, but the fact that Ted Cruz was re-elected recently makes that a difficult case to prove.

While there is certainly a risk of something going wrong that would require a second mortgage or the selling of a kidney (or both) to fix, these are actually pretty reliable cars if properly maintained. One of the partners at the firm I work at had one of these for at least 8 years and said he never had problem with…

“Significantly different” is an understatement.

Living in the Austin area has its benefits. Both cities are roughly a 3hr drive from my home. Plus there are some good deals in S.A. which is just an hour away. S.A. would also be closer for you.

Theoretically, yes...

I mention this because H-Town is quite possibly my favorite used car market; it’s ridiculous. It’s an embarrassment of riches!

Can’t believe no one recommended the Bronco Sport. Excellent mileage for a non-hybrid crossover with some actual off-road capabilities. Sure, it doesn’t have Wrangler levels of off-road ability, but still will go more places than many of the other suggestions.

Pretty much all US cars introduced as knee-jerk reactions to the ‘73 OPEC embargo. But I’ll specifically limit to the Vega and Mustang II.

This was the first thing I thought of. If, in its day, it simply had non-controversial looks and modest, but genuine, off-road capabilities, I think it would have done great. But it just came off as a minivan for dads-who-wouldn’t-be-caught-dead-driving-a-minivan. Unfortunately for Pontiac, those dads wouldn’t be…

From this we can conclude it is not a vision issue but something more serious. That noted taillight fetishist Jason Torchinsky also didn’t take a photo of the secondary taillights suggests that there might be a very serious problem and medical help should be sought.

Even at $2/serving, that is 5x-10x the cost of Halloween candy. I can buy a 225 count bag of good candy (Snickers, M&Ms, 3 Musketeers, etc.) for $15. While it may not bankrupt most people, spending $100 to get 50 kids a surprise high is a dumb waste of money, not to mention a really dumbass way to land in jail.

Winnebagos (...bagoes?) are for cooking meth, not coke and whores. Everyone knows that.

Take it a step further with a full-on custom van. Make yourself a drink, some food, watch a little TV, take a nap, snort some coke, bang some whores, etc.