You mean the 1998 truck that’s really a 1988 truck?  It’s past the 25 year safety & emissions  threshold so just drop a small-block V8 in it and have an even more serious offroader.

2005 was when the bad transmissions started showing up.

1: widely distributed vaccine.
2: number of deaths reported drops to negligible.
3: we have a federal government capable of handling and offering guidance for the inevitable resurgence/mutation

I blew 3 5-speeds in my 86 300ZX, until I finally put in a T5 5 speed from a Turbo model. Nissan isn’t known for it’s manual transmission durability, either.  The motor did make it over 300k, though.

Yeah, a rock that needed to be tossed to the bottom of the ocean.  Terribly underpowered, especially at elevation.  CP all day.

2nd:

1988 was part of the 80's.

Neutral: We shouldn’t be thinking so much about a vaccine and more about a cure. Not everyone gets the virus, and not everyone that does gets dangerously sick. The problem is that we don’t have a way to reliably treat those who get dangerously sick. A population that is largely unhealthy only complicates this.

I test drove the Acura MDX, and I’d say it compares favorably to something like the Volvo XC90. They’re nice mid-size SUV’s with comfortable and minimal interiors.

Neutral: When there is a widely available vaccine approved by this guy

Neutral: I spent a large chunk of my adult life traveling for work (and fun). Having previously “planned” to get mild-medium sick up to 2x a year, I’m perfectly fine with my new normal-ish of wearing a mask everywhere I go when I encounter untrusted entities in close proximity.

Im surprised at this point that Trump isn't bottling and selling his spit as a cure for covid. 

It says 1988. Are YOU ok?

According to the article, it’s a 1988, not a 1998, haha.

1988 truck, and they can be a bitch to trace leaks (and they will leak/rot). It may still run but only well enough to frustrate you. Exhaust manifold leak, good luck with those nuts/bolts. New steering gear. Just too much money.

I think this is dead on. When you bundle a feature into only the basest of options, it’s going to look like it doesn’t sell. The same thing happened to the 2 door VW Golf/GTI and non-crew cab pickups. If I sold Snickers bars in a package along with a swift kick to the groin, my Snickers sales would look terrible. 

Auto parking with manual? That seems like it would be strange.

Mazda might be the only one to buck that trend. The 3 hatch you can only get the manual on the top rung model. Well minus AWD. That also seems like a mistake.

I think the demo for a manual overlaps with options checkers as well. One of the great points of my Chevy SS was that the manual version wasn’t gimped. It even did the self parking thing and steered while you worked the clutch and brakes. If the used market is the canary manufacturers will start pricing manuals above…

My frustration is that nearly all manufacturers missed the transition from “manuals are for cheap loser cars only” to “enthusiasts with disposable income want manuals in their enthusiast cars.”