There are a multitude of YouTubers offering videos on how to do almost everything with cars. Consequently, our cars are looking really sharp after I followed these to detail them. I’ve seen videos on replacing the batteries in a Toyota Prius, head gaskets, exhaust systems, etc.

If the US Treasury is going to bail out the airline, they had better get stock for our money. I am sort of okay with loans, but grants are a no-no - they should give us stock for that money. I don’t want to give them tax breaks either, Congress is unwilling to provide tax relief to anyone but corporations and the very…

This car would be perfect for 99% of the driving 99% of motorists do. I drive 2012 Mazda CX-9. 99% of my driving is to/from work, the gym or the grocery store, and I’m almost always alone. If I didn’t already own the car free and clear, I’d get a subcompact electric like this.

I had a ‘74 HQ Kingswood back in ‘84-85, I had to put a new red engine into it and kicked it to the curb when the traumatic transmission started making funny sounds. I still put a lot of miles on it (and it had an Imperial speedometer). My favorite GMH car was the Holden Gemini four speed manual, that gearbox was an…

The other thing to think about with junkyard builders is whether or not you have somewhere you can work on the car that is not going to cause you trouble. If you live in a condo or HOA community, that answer is probably “No”. If you live in a municipality that prohibits this activity in residential areas, you could…

Having a car that your teenage kids can’t drive would seem like a bonus to me, a real selling point. Although being child free this isn’t a consideration for  me. 

On a car. A fancy car, but a car nontheless. 

I have a different take. I am a very special person (at least in my mind). The Oregon DoT should install a sensor in my car, and close all the roads when I get in my car, so that they are available for my exclusive use. They can open them back up when the sensor indicates I’ve parked.

GM used to sell a lot of cars in Europe under the Opel and Vauxhall marques, until GM sold its European operations to Groupe PSA, home of Peugeot and Citroen.

No is a complete sentence. The only time you have to swap is when directed to do so by a member of the flight crew. I have been in several situations where I either agreed to, or refused to swap. On one transpac flight from SFO to SYD on United, I was flying in Business, at the front of the cabin with an aisle seat. A…

Well we all know he’s got a few ‘roos loose in the top paddock and his vocal chords are in his rectum, so don’t sweat it.

The joys of living in Oregon (and NJ I guess): when there is an attendant to pump your gas, nobody is parking at the pump.

I dunno, when I learnt to drive in the early 1980's we all learned on manuals. In fact, learning on an automatic was for kids who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. 

As far as I am concerned, a Jaguar (and any other British or Italian car) is a hole in the road into which one shovel money.

I lived in New York for 10 years, three years in Manhattan, one in Queens and six in Brooklyn. I worked in Midtown. Never once, in those ten years, did I ever contemplate driving to work. First, only city employees get free parking and I wasn’t a city employee. Second, traffic is gridlocked, so it would never have…

I would be careful about taking a cashier’s check, they too can be forged. I am a controller at a manufacturing company and recently had a conversation with our bank rep. She was recounting to me a recently property closing for the bank, the title company absolutely did not want to take a cashier’s check, even from a…

The price of a new Smart car was always north of that of a new hatchback from most major makers, which to me would always be a better buy because you can fit stuff in the back. One colleague of mine has two cars, a Chevrolet Suburban which they use for toting little league teams, and a Nissan Versa, which they use for…

Aah the weak consumer protection laws in the USA. In a decent world the advertised price would be the price you pay by handing over cash and driving it away without any BS add ons, like must finance, must buy warranty, wheels extra, must buy dealers’ insurance.

There were a ton of these in New Zealand in 1990, the USSR used to barter with NZ for butter using Ladas. Lada Niva compact SUV’s were briefly popular in Australia in the late 1980's too (until everyone realized how crappily made they were).

I have flown in a QF A380 once, it was a comfortable ride. Unfortunately for Airbus, most airlines prefer less capacity on their most profitable routes, not more. It’s simple demand/supply, if the demand is constant, the less supply the higher the price. BA never flew the A380 on the LHR-JFK route because it prefers…