It’s been a while since but I had three 9-5s. After seven Volvos, I finally read Consumer Reports to find that my consistantly troublesome Vs were less-well ranked than the 9-5. MAN!! What supreme vehicles the Saabs were. The level of luxury. The power yet the high mpg... flawless. I eventually got one just before the…

Thank you Jalopnik for publishing this facinating story! It reminded me of another real story of somewhat similiar components. I used to frequent a cafe in that catered to a rather wild, exciting group of customers- mostly gay, many artists, many crossdressers and transpeople. One customer was flamboyantly dressed the…

BMW needs to bite the bullet and hire a designer. A coffee maker designer? A pencil designer? A sticker designer? ANY DESIGNER!!!! This brand is so bland it’s boggling. Bring back Bangle. Bring in Designing WOMEN! Truely, anything would be more fun than their current design language. zzzzzzzzZMW

The market for the mmmMACHO Audi exists but the market for the simple, classic A6 wagon doesn’t? Asinine.

If you want another good Vibe, I can heartily attest, the Dirt Devil Vibe vacuum is also a fine piece of engineering. And you can call it The Vibe and it’s just a serious conversation about dirty stuff. Win.

I’ve read that when driving while tired -but too proud/late/stupid to pull over and get rest, it’s not rolling down the windows or blasting music that keeps you more aware.... but rather driving barefoot. Supposedly, you have more nerve endings in the foot which could help keep you perky, from the tactile experience…

A Sienna XLE or Limited from 2006 on. Bulletproof, surprisingly fun to drive, luxe (he said he liked heated seats and V6 power). I sold a Saab 9-5 Aero back in the day, to begrudgingly buy that Sienna and damn, if I didn’t love every minute driving the van. We still have our 325it and it’s fun, but the Sienna holds…

Thank you for putting “butch” between quotation marks. It helps. Seriously. Because automotive “butch” is a wink and a nod from mall-crawler but people love a drag-fantasy-costume.

Your idea is the same as my idea -for every minivan. They can add AWD (ok..only Toyota )and put it in heels with some black rubber junk around the wheel arches and SELL it. Hellllllooooo Vanagonsurfervagabond types. And sure, sell them a 500 while you’re at it.

Anyone who’s old enough to have been rooting for Honda to topple the Big 3 back in the ‘70s, with effeciency, fun dynamics and élan, appreciates that Honda used to say, “we make it simple”. That was rich. By default, it was claiming that their cars rock, without gobbledegook. It’s SO good that the Civic SI can be had…

Wow. 10,000 miles is good but anything to celebrate? Not remotely apples to apples but I’m at 110k on my Sienna and zero problems. Ok, I lied- I just had to get a new headlight but that’s it. You’d probably shoot yourself if you had to drive a Sienna but damn, it’s cool to never worry. This is why it’s so painful to…

I’ll maybe tolerate the old XJ IF it’s in perfect condition with zero modifications and preferably handed down a few generations before you bought it. But I’ll add the following which always exude refinement and make actual wealth hard to gauge. Are they old money? Did they do well in the early 2000s and hold tight?…

A well tuned Saab 9-5 Aero wagon. Period. Discreet. Wildly powerful for the price of entry, heated seats for when you’ve got a cold sweat. Cargo space for all the loot. Sirus XM for when you need Howard Stern to distract you from whatever crime you’ve comitted.

Or, for another example... Princess Diana. No seatbelt. No future. Dead at 36. And the only one who survived that crash in a Mercedes S-Class was the one with the seatbelt. Buckle up. They’re free, they’re smart and they’re kinda hot in a diluted bondage kinda way.

Mine had 10 repairs in the first 12 months of ownership. From squeaky seats to fried struts, leaky sunroof, blah blah. I dumped it for a 3-series wagon and it’s been the most impressive automobile I’ve ever owned (and I think I’m up to about 22 or 23 different cars). MINI = dire junk.

Brilliant. Cheap to own. Prestige-Neutral. People I know who own Volts tend to have ridiculous wealth and project stealth success.

Sounds like an Uber car. Might not be good to present that you’re driving a cap at night after the law job.

Brands don’t realize customers notice their lack of consistancy. Look at the back of a Mercedes-Benz right now.. besides the logo, is there any long standing design vibe? No. The grooves that were quietly famous for keeping MB tail lights clear in bad weather are gone. Any one of their lights could look at home on a…

Why is safety not sexy? Is breaking your pelvis and whiplash sexy from a poorly designed, ugly car in a mild accident? Is getting out of a car after a long ride half crippled from lousy seats sexy? It ain’t sexy to me. Smart, fast, fun, incredibly comfortableand safe is sexy to me. Volvo checks boxes for me. Way…

As they say, ‘Money shouts, wealth whispers’. In San Francisco, where I live, the best neighborhoods, Pac Heights, Sea Cliff.. I see far more MINIs, Priuses, Sienna Limiteds, MDXs than S-Classes and 7 series. When you’ve got it, you don’t need to shout it.