The lease prices likely don’t factor in taxes, tags, and fees which will be around $3K which is the same as the down payment on the IS.

The deal on the Lexus was a bit of an outlier since I was able to capitalize that most ISs sold were AWD and with the smaller engine and luxury-focused options so it was actually pretty hard for them to shift an F-Sport RWD model with the larger engine. I was able to take advantage of the fact that the average buyer wo…

The world would be a much better place if people like incel extraordinaire Andrew Taint and morally/financially bankrupt Alex Jones and took a nap on the train tracks in the middle of the day.

Wow, this list is depressing. To think that 10 years ago, I leased a fully-loaded IS350 F-Sport RWD with an MSRP of $50K for $350/month with $3K down and now that would get me an economy car or crossover.

I guess fast charging will be a necessity for trailheads of the future. This is not unlike when the original Electric Elise Tesla Roadster came out, it had to be trailered to track events since if driven to the event, it would not have enough juice to complete more than a lap or two. Meanwhile, there was plenty of…

Those fucking slackers!  How un-German of them.

When I sat in the back of a friend’s Model 3 for the first time, I was blown away by how unpleasant of an experience it was. The ride quality in the rear seats is pretty terrible (you bounce over every road imperfection) and the trunk amplifies pretty much every road noise. And when my friend tried to show off the…

I feel the need to defend the 2-series Gran Coupe. While I would never buy one, in M235 form it is a fairly impressive sport compact car. When it was first released, I had a chance to sample one at an autocross course back-to-back with a 340 or 440 Gran Coupe (they are pretty much the same thing so I can’t remember)…

I had a Q3 loaner when my A7 was in the shop and was disappointed at how ordinary it felt - more like a Tiguan with a slightly better interior than an entry level luxury car. And don’t get me started on how poor the FWD-based AWD system handled weight transfer when applying throttle through the turn. There’s nothing…

I have seen 2019-2020 cars in the $15K to $20K range which is still a lot to pay for a 5-year old compact car. But the 10th and 11th gen Civics are such great cars with lots of models to make everything from penny pinchers to enthusiasts on a budget happy.

It’s only going to get worse as manuals age out and EVs and hybrids continue to take over. During the recession in the late aughts, I interviewed as a valet while waiting for a new contract to start and they hired me on the spot after I aced the manual hill test (starting on a garage ramp with the parking brake on).…

A slipping clutch is fairly easy to detect if the person has some experience but worn gear teeth is pretty hard to detect unless a gear is grinding even with a smooth shift.

Doh!  You are right.  I have always been more of an RX-7 fan so I guess the FD chassis name was on the tip of my tongue.

What the fuck where they doing to this car? Sure, a few stalls and a bit of abuse will lead to some advanced wear and tear on the drivetrain but you really have to try hard to burn out a clutch and grind gear teeth on a fairly new car.

I was thinking the same thing.  What kind of tech who works on manual vehicles does not know how to operate one?  That blows my mind given that working on cars is significantly tougher than learning to drive a car with a manual transmission.

Every time I read or hear about someone who owns/leases a car that is beyond their budget, all I can think of is that they should have purchased a 5-year-old Civic. It is reliable, easy/cheap to maintain, and, as long as it is a 2016 or newer, is overall a pretty good car.  The Versa is a good option for people who…

I couldn’t agree more with your last statement. Every car at a minimum should have a mild hybrid system to power accessories and start/stop. I had a diesel C-class wagon when in Portugal last year and it had a full hybrid drivetrain. I was able to average around 50 mpg in 60% highway/40% city driving while still…

I’m just going to go ahead and disagree on all counts. If the industry commits to creating new diesel emissions technologies, they will solve most if not all the issues experienced by modern diesels. DEF has only been around for about 20 years so clearly the technology is a fairly new development in the diesel…

Ok, great.  Thanks!  While you’re at it, I have a few other ideas to run by the artist so please send me their contact info.

I really wish more of an effort was put into refining diesel engines so that their emissions systems are reliable and compliant with current regulations. After spending a week in a 2019 X5 gas loaner car, I was extremely disappointed with the 20 mpg I got in mixed driving and a maximum of 23.5 mpg achieved in mostly…