Yeah, the parts are STILL expensive. My experience is a sample size of one, since I don’t know anyone else who’s owned a VW/Audi from that time period, but mine was very reliable. I think the only things that broke were the power steering pump, driver’s side window regulator (brittle plastic guides), and the coolant…

The cost cutting that coincided with MLB/MQB being adopted (not necessarily BECAUSE of them. Those platforms drastically improved reliability) definitely resulted in VWs getting less nice though. They did the reverse of what Mazda has been doing. VWs have gone DOWN market in terms of interior quality when they stopped…

I miss mid-2000's Volkswagen. Their platform sharing with Audi was much more extensive, so you got some REALLY nice VWs. I had a B5 Passat, and the Audi similarities were obvious. The Passat, Jetta/Golf, and first gen Touareg were all FAR above everything else in their class. As long as you didn’t get any of the more…

1st Gear:

Second best looking of the post-Callum/Fisker Aston Martins, IMO. The Vantage is still carrying the range. I do agree that it’s still a bit grille-heavy. The interior is NICE, but cover up the badge, and I’d have no idea it’s an Aston. There’s just no brand identity inside. Cover up the badge and my first guess would…

hollup... Let him cook... the brakes. 

BIG agree on the interior of the Mustang. The last one felt special, and the gigantic screen takes up so much space that there’s none left for actual DESIGN. Makes it feel very generic inside. Reminds me of the Camaro interior, which is NOT compliment. 

Not necessarily. I’m 6', 250 lbs, and it’s less the height you have to worry about, and more the pedal box. I wear a size 13, so I have to wear some pretty lightweight shoes to drive a Miata properly. 

Same. I’m 6', about 250lbs, built more like a linebacker. I do NOT fit in a Mazda 3, as much as I’d like to

I think 6'5" is pushing it for a Miata. The problem isn’t height, it’s the shoe size that goes along with said height. I’m 6' and wear a size 13, and I feel like that’s pretty much the upper limit for a Miata’s pedal box. At OP’s height, I’d be surprised if his shoes were anything less than a 14. 

I’m fully aware. That’s what makes the C8 Z06 and ZR-1 so awesome. 

And? The ZR-1 will probably beat a 911 GT3-RS too. That doesn’t make either the GTD or the Porsche any less impressive. The GTD is legitimate racing tech on a road car. That makes it more exotic (and expensive) than the ZR-1. Ford probably wasn’t even THINKING about the Corvette when designing the GTD. It’s clear in…

the Mustang GTD is going to cost a hell of a lot of money (especially for a Mustang)

Ford had a refresh of the Fusion in 2010 that DRASTICALLY improved the interior quality. I had one, and I was surprised by just how good the materials were. I think it was part of their efforts to improve after they almost went bankrupt. The buttons on the center stack still had the tendency to wear away after time…

The design and layouts are largely fine. With the American stuff, I’m more concerned about the cheap materials warping/fading/breaking/chipping. The thin plastic will start to get brittle, clips will snap, there will be creaks/rattles, buttons fade or get sticky and gross. A lot of cars from that era use cheap…

The Accord of that era may have had its dash machine gunned with buttons, but the quality was still head and shoulders above the American stuff. Yeah, I know that Accord was built in the US. My sister-in-law had one of those a couple of years ago, and everything still felt really well put together. It’s ugly, not…

Yep. The Global MX-5 Cup is straight from Mazda. No longer street legal though.

Exactly. Why the FUCK would you want to make your head and taillights worse at the ONE JOB they’re supposed to do?!

I mainly hear this from non-enthusiasts, but Miatas. People still think they’re feminine and wimpy, and don’t realize it’s the most raced car in history, and for good reason. For $60k, you can get a turn-key, track ready MX-5 Cup WITH a sequential gearbox.

After I saw Papadakis Racing make 1000 hp with a stock bottom end, I was sold. I haven’t even heard of many problems they have. It’s like the Toyota badge is keeping the BMW-ness at bay.