We’re in a rare situation where these companies have to take on enormous expenses to R&D these new vehicles because the whole industry is going through a once-in-a-century transformation. I assume Ford, Rivian, and other EV manufacturers will continue to take deposits until practically all new cars are EVs. It helps…

A lot of cars make use of outsourced technology.

Magna
Aisin
ZF
Bosch
Brembo
Borg Warner
Cummins
Mahle
NGK
Champion
VDO
(all tire manufacturers)
NVIDIA
Panasonic (batteries)

—

TL;DR

Modern cars are ALREADY a combination of parts from many manufacturers. PRODUCING chips themselves makes no sense. These are CAR guys, not CHIP guys.

Doing…

The Maxima is bigger than the Corolla or Civic. I think the question is why a Maxima over an Accord or Camry, or Avalon.

I dunno, I’m actually kind of excited about Nissan for the first time in a long time. Their Rogue and new Pathfinder are really great (yes, I know we’re supposed to hate crossovers but that doesn’t mean that they’re not good), the Z is supposedly going to come in a manual and TTV-6 while also undercutting the Supra in…

Neutral: There are plenty of business travelers like myself, who drive more Nissans than we want to think about, in these comments. I’ve driven the Maxima and frankly I think it is a good car. It is powerful, satisfying to drive, and has properly comfortable seats. The electronics and their corresponding controls are…

The scam you can get the money back any time you want?

You forgot the most important part that determines value: Desirability.

Roughly 80% of the Garage 54 content is this exact kind of pointless curiosity.

Can’t dispute your logic, so it seems like it would come down to finding a a collector or museum who wants this.  Seems like a very tiny market to target.

Car collector here.

This is not at all surprising. A filter is gonna filter particles but oil breaks down. It’s gonna take a lot more science to turn it back to it’s prior state. 

I’d put a teenager in a 305 Corvette. With the automatic. Comeon, try to go fast. Muhahahahahaha!!!

Why does everyone suddenly need a new vehicle? I understand some people really do but most don’t and are still buying in an inflated market. It just seems like if the people who don’t have to buy right now would chill out there would be enough inventory. 

Trim strip is missing from Driver’s side front fender. Still might be the best one currently for sale. Definitely CP

Looks to me like the left front quarter panel has been replaced, between the bit of trim missing and the odd alignment/gap of the panels around it. That’s a collision that will affect all kids of things, mechanically and for safety. I’ll make a $20 bet that the alignment’s off, and it drifts to the right.

You are absolutely correct. Driver’s side door has been repainted. Also missing the short trim piece on the front fender that flows onto the driver’s side door.  I wonder what delightful event caused that... I’m sure everything underneath that one-step-above-a-rattle-can-job is totally hunky dory, for sure!

On second look I think you’re onto something about that paintwork.

I’ve shopped around and bought 2 new cars in the last 4 years. For the most part, every conversation I had with any dealership felt like turning the wheel of a kaleidoscope while playing a game of whack-a-mole.  Nothing was ever clear and when it was, that meant some other aspect of the deal had changed.

What makes these so special that people are willing to pay that much for them, They just look like another Meh SUV?!

all this makes me sad because I’m in the market for a new car (current car is 14 years old with 215K miles) and now because of chip shortage and crazy markups, I’ve made the decision to baby the old rattlebox until next year. Hopefully nothing happens to it.