I’ve bought 2 new cars in the last 3 years, one Porsche and one VW. The gap in dealer experience was nowhere near as vast as the window sticker. Find a good dealer and give them your business. If more of us did this, we wouldn’t have to deal with all of the crappy ones.

A real 550? Not likely, but I’ve heard of crazier things before.

I sold an iPhone on eBay a number of years ago to someone in Russia. I think I also sent it to a location in New Jersey. It was super sketchy, but his payment cleared so I shipped it. My best guess is my $240 iPhone was worth way more in Russia and he was just importing them for resale. It could also be running a…

Same here. I’ve ridden more neat stuff by swapping with friends than I have on factory demos.

Just did this over the weekend. I have a good friend and between the two of us, we have a constant flow of new cars moving through our hands. Corvettes, Porsches, old ratty Jeeps, numerous hot hatches and muscle cars, and that doesn’t even count all of the motorcycles.

So yesterday, we drove each other’s cars - him…

If you forced me, I’d say the U.S. will not get the 3-door. All manufacturers seem to be moving this way for our market. I’m glad I got my 3-door GTI while I still could.

And left a note in it’s place, “You drive like a dick. Watch for bikes.”

Would it kill someone to spend 5 minutes cleaning up the diction from Google Translate before publishing this?

5th Gear: Autonomous Yinzers

Trading can be very advantageous, especially for someone who can’t afford the time needed to sell privately and then deal with the time gap between cars. Also, in many states, the trade value reduces sales tax owed and inflates the prices you’d need to get privately to break even.

You don’t need to finish paying it off for it to be a good decision to trade in. If you’re not upside down, then what’s the difference? When you buy a new car with a trade, you’re also selling a car. If you get a fair price, there’s no harm.

It’s more complicated than how long people finance for. My last BIG money car purchase was with a 72-month loan, but I put $17k down. I was never upside down and had plenty of equity, even when I traded it in 2 years later after taking the biggest depreciation hit it would ever see.

The bigger problem is people…

Seriously... just because Jalopnik writers can get by with dial-up internet and a ThinkPad doesn’t mean one of the largest public transportation agencies in the world can do without a significant back end if they want to push a new process into place.

The salary estimates are probably close, but the padding is minimal…

I had been riding for over a decade, including a number of track days, before I first took the MSF course in order to be a certified instructor. I learned new things in that class. I regularly get students who think they’re hot shit with lots of experience fail at some of the exercises. It’s good for everyone.

This. I’d say 90% of the dropped bikes in class are due to students jamming on the front brake when they’re not supposed to.

I know you’re writing this 6 years on, but you’ve remembered some things incorrectly and the course itself has changed a bit in that time. I’m only mentioning these things for the benefit of riders who are deciding to do this or not.

-Classes are limited to 12 students per range - you may have less, but never more.
-The…

Not at all helped by the video quality being of the same vintage as most of the cars...

Safety ratings I think play a backseat role. They’re basing your rate on how much it costs to fix your car and the likelihood of you getting in an accident with it. When I was 30 years old, I sold a 12-year old V8 Camaro and bought a new Porsche Boxster, and my insurance went down, because the typical brand-new…

And to help with insurance rates, Honda has introduced bodywork which will appear the same both before and after the driver screams, “SICK DRIFT, BRAH!” and wraps it around a tree, minimizing repair costs.

Did not know that was an option. Thanks!