Here's a shot I took of the undercarriage of a brodozer that got traded in a couple months ago:

Just like a Porsche.

Mechanically, it also seems to be sound. That's good as sourcing parts for the two-stroke and any of the other mechanical elements may be tougher than trying to get half of Germany back behind the iron curtain. Seriously, where the hell do you get minty green fan belts? The Wartburg factory closed down in 1991, and…

Is it a spor truck or a sport ruck?

The Dodge Ram Daytona. Cool looking? Oh hell yeah. But... Want to haul a refrigerator? A sofa? A motorcycle? An ATV? You're outta luck.

Wet, blue/green, covered in used paper, but quiet, the guy sat in his seat, and stared and the back of the seat in front of him, not to move or peep again. I hope they burned that seat later.

Well, it's 90% of a set. Way more than many manufacturers give you now.

I always loved the satisfying "thunk" sound you'd hear when moving the lever from one side to the other.

Chrysler's UConnect system is like this. Knobs for volume and tuning, full set of knobs/buttons for the climate control. The only functions you HAVE to use the screen for are setting the vent position, turning on the heated seats, selecting radio presets, and searching for music on your iPod.

I used to see this shit ALL. THE. TIME. when I lived in West Virginia:

This film promoter stuck a $300,000 diamond to the nose of an F1 car. You won't believe what happened next!

Ah, so instead of a $55,000 King Ranch it's a $48,000 top of the range XLT. The markup in that truck isn't going to be too far off from the King Ranch anyway- it'd be very well optioned, and options are cash cows when it comes to adding markup to a vehicle.

I definitely agree with your first point. I was driving a 2012 Jetta last month, spent a couple weeks in a 2013 Dart, and now I'm driving a 2012 Cruze. The Dart and Cruze are light years ahead of the Jetta in terms of comfort and interior styling/materials.

Jeep also didn't have the Cherokee at this time last year.

These two are so similar you'd think they were badge engineered, but they're not.

$15,000 off if you choose the $55,000 King Ranch that has $5000 dealer markup. And you're in the military. And a recent college grad. And currently leasing a competitor's vehicle. And you finance with Ford Motor Credit. And trade in a vehicle.

Attention.

Did you ever think you'd see the day? We all know the Mazda2 was never going to do amazing sales here, but the Chevy Sonic and Ford Fiesta are besting their Japanese rivals from Honda and Toyota to take the #2 and #3 spots.

Taken pessimistically you're looking at a market that's setting itself up for failure, that's hiding major problems. I don't quite see it that way as I suspect there's a large portion of the population whose prospects and current income are better than their credit, and who need a car to get to the job they just got.…