I hear your pain - do NOT enter a modern Lexus because their infotainment control system is beyond maddening and completely un-intuitive. It’s like they paid somebody extra to make it harder.

My bad, I meant to say fuel cell driven cars in general; in this case, Toyota is very focused on hydrogen fuel cells. I honestly do not know of any consumer who has a clue what a fuel cell is, and have very little interest in owning the Mirai.

Pretty much. And the motor is pretty impressive too. Generally, the entire power delivery system is quite advanced, from energy density to discharge efficiency.

I still don’t understand Toyota’s obsession with natural gas vehicles; if you thought getting the American public to embrace EV is hard, it’s even worse with natural gas. A few years ago, my buddy in Irvine had the privilege of driving Mercedes’ natural gas vehicle as part of their exclusive clientele, and you know…

2nd Gear: Backing out of deal with the SEC? Rich people problems, nothing to respect. I guarantee any Joe Plumber would have taken that deal in a heartbeat, but since Musk is rich, he can afford to embrace his “inner truth”. Rich people can afford to be idealistic and principled - everybody else has a family to…

Rule #1 THIS. As my company’s product strategist, ALL of my battles are with the finance team. Every single one. If accountants had their way, we’d only be selling razor blades and toilet paper.

Worse still, that $10 will also include not knowing how to reset the car’s Tire Pressure Gauge sensor alert. 

4th Gear - the “future is ride-hailing”: Yep, in 10 years I don’t think my kids will be driving when they are 25 and plan to work in any of the large cosmopolitan areas. On the way to the airport last week, I spoke to my Uber driver who was complaining that he doesn’t make any money driving kids home from the local…

The kind of car you wait 4 years to end up on Carmax so you can buy the extended warranty.

I know I do. Have scraped my RAV4 many a times going around giant rocks at an angle. I need clearance more than AWD.

We have these broad dips in 4 lane intersections (in the OC)! Impossible to try and make that yellow at 55 MPH (limit is 45 zone) without lots of screaming as the suspensions almost bottoms out every single time.

This. Freaking parking lot dips and speed bumps means I’m just creeping around at 2 mph on the approach. In the F150, no problem, run right through them, but not in my Accord or Sienna. So even though I only go car camping twice a year, I navigate parking lots every single day.

Smart planning? Manufacturing cars is stupid hard (see Ford) and is quite possibly the worst startup idea ever. If you succeed, you make very little money unless you are Toyota selling everything in volume to budget minded consumers. Mazda despite its amazing lineup is just barely cutting a profit. I can pretty much…

4th Gear Lincoln has an identity crisis: the subscription model is a “Millennial” preference but Lincoln appeals to the older set (Generation X and older) - see the problem? There’s not a line of Millennials waiting to buy super sized SUVs and Continentals. They want small compact super high tech modern well designed X…

When it’s 0% financing for new safety features not yet available in the “used” market. For us it was the 2017 Toyota Sienna loaded with the necessary sensors and all that safety auto-doodad; because it was in its last year of production before “all new” update in 2018, Toyota was pushing year end inventory with their…

CPO is best for “near” luxury vehicles. My sister is replacing her old BMW X3 with a newish 2017 CPO X3 (4-cylinder) for $30,000 mostly loaded. Considering it’s less than 2 years old with only 15,000 miles, she’s saving almost $20,000. The CPO bumper-to-bumper extended warranty gives her unlimited miles through 2022.…

I wouldn’t mind having the resources to watch my 911 GT3 burn 10x over if that’s the kind of life I’m living. Give me rich people problems all day long.

LOL thanks for the correction!

You forgot to mention Takata airbags.

M240i is pretty amazing from all the reviews I’ve read, and it has usable back seats, AND 6-speed manual. The Supra is definitely a niche product that is obviously 90% BMW with Toyota tuned suspension for $10,000 more. I’d choose the M240i.