speaking as a former TDi owner (2010 model sportwagen) a lot of you might be about 5-6 years behind me in my epiphany that these cars, are in fact, total crap. That’s OK. I can tell you that 4 years after kicking the TDI as it left my driveway and walking into an Audi dealer, I am still very much satisfied with my S4.…

but you still pay it ;)

it’s not a monopoly. there are always other roads you can take, other places you can go, and you certainly have the freedom to move to where you don’t need to use a toll road. If anything, toll roads are a losing proposition since they effectively ‘compete’ against ‘free’ roads that can be run at a constant deficit…

because it provides a service people want at a reasonable cost. Do you ever decide to stop paying for internet or cell phone service?

toll roads don’t benefit from the gas tax - it explicitly prohibited. IN FACT, many toll roads end up supplementing your local Department road improvement funds under the guise of ‘improving access’ to their own road systems. See Portal Tunnel and Pulaski Skyway for reference.

they don’t pay for themselves, like, ever. A road is like a puppy.

ding ding ding!

you didn’t have early gen fuel injection, then. I know a very large number of crossfire injected Corvettes that would have words with you.

and it’s easier to AWD an electric vehicle than an I/C one. you’re missing the point that people don’t actually care about range because it doesn’t affect 98% of them. They just use it as an irrational hedge to lean towards the car they irrationally want. as soon as they see an electric car they want, it won’t matter.

:shrug: cars cost money. And while there’s your argument that you’ll always buy used or pay cash, it’s kind of irrelevant. the new car market will favor those who buy new or finance. The used car market, to a large extent, is a byproduct of the new car market; you only get to choose what’s already been chosen by…

you rationally arguing why people are irrational. I could make a good counterargument that you can use people’s irrational sentiment to get them to make rational choices by offering a desirable, fast, ‘premium’ option that they would want anyway, despite not being able to drive 1000 miles at a clip, but Tesla is…

60 years ago, people didn’t want seatbelts.

I still say that the most profitable niche for autonomous vehicles is a flat chassis with receiver points for a standard shipping container. If you could pull a container out of a ship, drop it on an autonomous chassis, and then have it go on its merry way to Wherever, USA, it’d be a game changer for pretty much…

you’re confusing ‘all purpose’ for ‘any conceivable purpose’. How often do you drive more than 200 miles per day? do you have more than one car in your family? For most people, the answers to both questions are almost always “never” and almost always “yes”, and almost always in that order.

rent because it’s more efficient to rent (and probably cheaper)for the exceptional event than to buy for it. Why pay extra for an big car that uses more fuel just so that you can drive it 800 miles on vacation 2x per year?

I don’t agree with this.

The idea of VAG completely ignoring conventional wisdom, marketing advice of their own dealer networks, the screaming agony of the stockholders, and a basic kindergarten level of f’n judgment is both highly likely and with ample precedent. Therefore I predict a fine selection of convertible top colors for this…

I can’t agree. Sisco was the best.

fine, let’s talk about the ST seats some more.

I know the numbers are close, but it’s complete and utter bullschit. I had an A4, then went to look at an S3 as an ‘upgrade’ since the specs were so close. They’re not close. A standard humab can sit behind me in the A4, I can’t even fit my fist sideways between the back seat and the front seat in the S3. The back…