Thank gawd I grew up in Sweden - I can’t even fathom not hugging my little boy. He is two and just had me paint his nails the same color as his favorite toy car (a vintage Majorette Toyota HiLux), which I hope would drive Andrew Tate up a wall.

What Tate needs is 12 inches of paradise.

Is it okay if the combined value of all of your cars is less than $20K?

Let me push you off of that fence and onto the “buy” side. I have a few of these Korean 1:35 scale cars, and their quality is fantastically bad. Super clunky, and all the opening parts feel like they will break off if handled with anything less than kid gloves. Still like them, though, and there is no other option if…

An idiot acquaintance of mine lives in upstate NY; her husband is a Mustang guy (and makes bank growing pot) and bought her a giant crew cab pickup truck with all the bells and whistles so that she would be “safe”. She is constantly in fear while driving the thing. She came down to the city and was going to be the DD,…

Ugggghhhhh

A gas tax would solve all of that for ICE vehicles (I haven’t thought of the best way to implement it for EVs yet).

But those huge vehicle sales have always been dependent on government subsidizing larger vehicles - once CAFE came into effect (and it still didn’t affect customers directly), customers just switched to trucks/SUVs because they don’t have to follow the same rules. Same thing with emissions requirements.

That would be awesome. My main car (I don’t commute by car) weighs 1,499 pounds... 48hp. But it does have power steering, and you can’t take that away from me.

My MIL’s name is Akeela, this has less than positive connotations for me.

That is the best idea yet. It certainly not too late for Sonyhonda to change course.

The Chinese automobile market is very volatile and has been since the 1990s. One brand rules the roost and is gone a year later. Cars are so new there, there is practically zero brand loyalty - Tesla will be helped by their profile abroad, but as that begins to tank they’re going to be SOL.

That’s what I earn, and our cars are 30, 27, and 20 years old... I will probably have to replace one of them pretty soon.

I cannot imagine wanting one particular vehicle so badly that I would pay a premium for it - there are so many other cars I want, I would just get one of those instead.

I always saw that one when my phone was out of battery or lost or whatever. It had Italian diplomatic plates. The Italians are just about the only ones who bring interesting cars (although I did know a German embassy staffer with a Kangoo 4x4); everyone else just buys Toyota Siennas to bring home with them.

Yes, it’s the flying car of our time.

All of those electronic systems (except ABS, maybe) are maybe helpful for the average mall crawler, but for anyone who takes the least bit of interest in their driving they mostly make you less safe.

I have to be honest - I dislike Musk, Tesla stans, and today’s economy (all bluster, nothing real) so much that I truly enjoy watching videos of Teslas effing up. I am utterly and completely biased.

Valentine’s Day will be weird this year.

I console myself with the fact that even with one of the lamest, least inspiring Presidents ever, we did not have a massive red wave in the mid-terms (which almost universally go against the party in the White House). But yes, the memory of American voters is startlingly short.