Oh my god, that’s it! I never could figure out what bothered me about the stereos on those things. They weren’t objectively bad, they just didn’t fit for some reason.

This has been uttered more than a few times in my garage

That’s why I spend more on preventative maintenance than repairs.

Start talking to coworkers or neighbors and feel them out. I get the shakes when I’ve gone too long without turning a bolt but most people I work with don’t know that. I don’t have pictures of cars up in my cube, my hands are clean thanks to nitrile gloves, and I don’t steer every conversation towards my hobby.

I wasn’t going to do any irreparable damage with my quarter-inch wrench

Not too long ago I refused to wear gloves for any type of work for exactly that reason. Gross, right?

I say maybe because it sounds like whether the wheel was bent by them is debatable. Yeah, if they bent the wheel that’s a BFD.

Yeah overall I’ve heard good things about them. Compared to simpler and much cheaper cars of the time, yes, they’re a lot more involved and pricey to keep running, but that just comes with the territory. I haven’t heard that they’re especially unreliable.

Exactly! Leaving ice cream residue in the cupholders wasn’t cool and very unprofessional, but other than that and the maybe bent wheel, I’m not seeing the huge crime.

Exactly, with flat rate you win some, you lose some. Same story with the tech.

I’ve heard that lots of places will go grab food or something while doing a test drive, and personally I don’t have a problem with it. You gotta be out driving it anyway, why not?

Exactly. It can work in your favor (sometimes in huge ways) if it ends up taking the tech a lot longer to finish a task. If they’re able to get something accomplished in less time, it’s because they’re good at their job.

This movie came out at the apex of puberty and my growing fascination with cars. I can’t see it as anything other than fun. I realize it’s not an objectively good movie, but I can still pop on either this one or Snatch pretty much any time and enjoy it.

Alright, the next person to buy a Panamera here, be sure to drop Justin’s name.

That’s good to hear! I think since it’s an 03 you don’t have to worry about the IACV problem, which is nice. Does yours have the adaptive cruise control?

Of that I have no doubt. That one, especially.

No. Don’t tell me this. I just sold an ‘01 QX4 after buying it for 7k, putting another who the hell knows how much of parts into it and then selling it for 3.

I found that it was relative to how clear traffic was. Traffic jam? Everyone’s trying to go 85. You and a handful of other people on the road? 60, maybe. I swear as soon as traffic let up the speed would drop proportionally.

Right? I had the same thought about Seattle. It’s amazing how many people just mash the accelerator to the floor and wait for their burnout to take them to the top of the hill.

It looks like a wall comes down next to that door, where that red line on the floor is. Still doesn’t totally explain things, but it’s a piece of the puzzle.