If I had a friend with a Tesla I would love to lock them out of their seat while I was waiting in the car. It’d be even better if the lockout times increased exponentially if you kept futzing with them, as with my sister’s phone which is locked out for the next 3 million years thanks to the good offices of her…

I like it. I loathe SUVs, but I think of the Aviator (and Explorer) as simply a marginally chunkier station wagon and then it suddenly looks pretty nice.

GM family much? 

Most cars are best off with drums at the rear. Unless you are regularly doing the Nürburgring or somesuch. The rear discs also don’t get enough use, which can lead to other issues (like rust in the internals), whereas a drum’s relative braking power nicely aligns with how much work they have to do (20% to 35%, usually)…

Jimmy Buffett fans are generally the most uptight and worried people around.

Will quote. Thank you.

Yeah, it may have a different skin but the hardpoints of the design are unmistakable. Zagato managed to camouflage them, but that’s because they’re magicians.

Yep. My mechanic keeps putting a sticker in my window with my current mileage plus 3,000 - however, my car is metric, so this would make it an 1,864 mile interval, which feels a bit off.

Hundreds of functions... that either shouldn’t exist or shouldn’t be controlled from a touch screen. Sorry, I am a bit of a Luddite and am still not certain that I even want power windows.

Yep, and this is standard AMC condition so no problems.

Good to know that some things that look like straw men are actually real people. Well, not good in this case, perhaps.

I dropped $300 on a 1955 T20B in what seems to be excellent condition. That’s about my budget for her birthday gift, and it looks very cool. No pitting in the metal, just a small crack in the bakelite.

I mean, the notion that we get dumber because the smart ones don’t have kids is clearly incorrect. I think that’s mostly a joke anyhow; it would take too long to go over all of the reason for our society degenerating.

Divorce rates are directly linked to length of commutes. A sobering thought.

A Chevrolet Sonic I can understand replacing, but not a paid off 2010 CX-9. Keep the CX-9 and blow $80-100K on an Aston Martin Rapide.

A Chevrolet Sonic I can understand replacing, not a paid off 2010 CX-9. Keep the CX-9 and blow $80-100K on an Aston Martin Rapide.

Thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I realize that my toast-loving wife has a birthday coming up, so I will splurge on a Very Nice Toaster for her. This has been a very useful conversation for me; the internet does truly rock sometimes. Best regards etc.

If there is one thing I have learned in a decade and a half as a member of the Jaloptariat, it is to stay far away from HOAs.

I found super charmingly ugly seventies ones that work for around $70 - I do prefer the art deco aesthetic but I have no clue how to find a toaster repairman in 2022 NYC.

Or just have big chunky knobs (think Volvo 240) that can be operated with gloves on. Some things are better nowadays, but most things are idiotic.