I’d be inclined to agree if most people weren’t buying trucks as a do-everything vehicle that needs to move mom, dad, 2.5 kids, the dog, and all the stuff in addition to five bags of mulch once a year.

I do. I remember a friend who had a car with a remote start that he had to wrap wire around a spare key and the lock cylinder and tape it to the inside of the steering column so it wouldn’t trip the immobilizer. It didn’t occur to him that somebody trying to steal it was probably going to rip the trim off the column…

They should have to go back further. Hell, my E46 is old enough to vote and it’s got an immobilizer.

Except for specifically armored versions of cars, I’m still wondering why we give a shit about a Cybertruck’s “bulletproofing” at all.

I would imagine that their statistics show that Kias in general are a higher risk to insure than other cars at this point. My guess would be that thefts of and damage to Kias in general has gone up significantly, not just the models affected by the issue. Your typical Kia Boy probably doesn’t know the difference…

You wouldn’t be in the market for a Cabinet position, would you?

It’s gotta be. There’s precious few things in a typical automotive electrical system that can draw anywhere near 550A besides a starter motor that aren’t a short.

You don’t have to make it malleable. You just have to heat it enough to get the substrate to expand enough to break the bond between it and the fastener. You’re essentially “making the hole bigger.”

I might be able to muster up some empathy if all his problems weren’t knowingly and willingly self inflicted.

It would be really awesome if police cruisers were equipped with some sort of recording device that could provide a record of the event.

“iT’s ThE cUsToMeR eXpErIeNcE.”

You’ll be interested to learn that my wife’s ‘18 Forester (so the same car but for DI heads and a slightly better radio) drives more interestingly and has more personality that my mom’s ‘15 Outback and my ‘13 Legacy 3.6R Limited, si it can get even worse! Subaru went full-boring when they reinvented themselves in the…

I had a ‘91 Mercury Tracer, the Escort’s slightly more upmarket sibling. Being my first car, I remember it fondly. But, if I look at it dispassionately, it was a heap of shit. I had to put parts into it almost every other weekend. I remember being particularly angry about the fact that I put a new clutch in it and the…

I think my most disappointing car is probably my current one. My ancient and totally worn out ‘99.5 Audi A4 Avant quattro (manual wagon!) was declared dead and my mother-in-law expressed interest in getting something both under warranty and getting better gas mileage than her ‘13 Subaru Legacy 3.6R. She does like 25k…

My dad had a ‘13 328i xDrive. I tend to agree with you on all counts. It was sterile compared to my E46. It was quick compared to my car, having 50hp more, but it lacked the exuberance mine has. Sure, it’s easier to live with — dad described it as “more grown up” — but it was pretty boring. It wasn’t great in the…

“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Tesla today!”

That’s a lot of money for a mishmash of bog standard GM parts mixed with a few weird Scandinavian ones that can’t ever be replaced, all with almost 100k on them already.

I don’t know about the WRX transmission, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it just bolted up (bellhousing wise) given the Lego-like modularity of Subarus. I vaguely remember stuff involving needing to fabricate a transmission crossmember or adapter, so that still applies. There was something involving a driveshaft; I…

I drove my E46 in traffic back when it was my DD. I don’t ever recall thinking “I wish this was an automatic,” even when I was stuck just idling along in first.

Back when I had a ‘97 Outback, I paid closer than average attention to that transmission. Turns out there was an external dropping resistor you could replace that would bump the fluid pressure up on it, which supposedly could help with transmission failures in the SVX, though at the price of much rougher shifting.…