Go out and buy a Pajero Evo. Or a Toyota Century. Or a Holden Ute. You can’t, because you’ve never been able to just go out and buy any vehicle. This is not a new phenomenon.

They obviously don’t have to, my opinion is simply that any media outlet is better served being a big tent than an echo chamber.

I’m sure opinions of Mr. Baruth vary around here, but this site would be improved by a publishing a wider variety of editorial viewpoints including something similar to this one he wrote fairly recently.

Wow, such a glowing review...

https://jalopnik.com/the-2021-volkswagen-id-4-is-a-good-enough-ev-but-im-not-1846449706

The Tacoma is a body-on-frame truck, the Maverick is unibody. The Maverick has several more inches of headroom than the Ranger, and I’m sure Tacoma also. Nothing about the measurements of the two vehicles is comparable.

Yeah - the extra foot and 500lbs puts it in an entirely different class, and 30mpg highway out of a non-hybrid 3 row is straight up unheard of.

No it doesn’t.

140 more hp, assumed factory lift and 37"s, improved resale

Nope. $2500-$5000 is the range for these things. Most people see it as an Explorer which isn’t worth much, and the luxury nameplate adds zero value at this point in time. I strongly considering getting one to “bro-verland” out before I got my F-150 instead.

This is one of the more frustrating aspects of internet research. Often, you just see some vague “X percent of owners reported transmission problems”

I’m not sure a Panther with a Duratec V6 would be a good combination, at least not without a better transmission.

I argue that even today a large, BOF vehicle has its place, with the right setup and correct product placement. Ford stopped producing the Panthers basically because fixing the equipment cost more than they made on the cars, which seems odd since the Ranger now exists.

I can’t believe that the Giulia doesn’t sell better. The “quality issues” that everyone talks about are bullshit since most of the people that like to talk about it have never even driven one.

No - I pick up my trailer at 5:30pm on the Saturday night before a race. The place closes at 5pm on Sunday, so my “24 hour” rental means I just have to return it before they open the next morning. I usually have it back before closing anyway.

A reservation puts you in line to make an order at a future date.

They do come in handy.

Trailer cost: $1800

I like your Civic, I’m always transporting a “1994 Ford Escort.”

What about oil and drive train maintenance that doesn’t exist on an EV? Did you factor that in (not saying this particular example of an EV by Mazda makes any sense, but a hybrid adds complexity)?