Get an old LR3. Only about $10-12k for a decent one. Ladder frame with a unibody on top, decent V8. Not known for many problems (except some electrical gremlins that are usually easily sorted). Mine has 185k on it now and I’ve had very little grief, and I beat the absolute piss out of it off-road.

Lol wut. *Ring ring* Hi, Malaise era? Yeah this is 2018 calling. You win, your cars are uglier.

Land Rover LR3! I daily mine, I put about 600 miles a week on it. It’s been the most reliable vehicle I’ve owned in a while (even more reliable than an ‘89 Benz that I had for a couple years). They’re comfortable, tough, and hold a vast amount of cargo while retaining a relatively small overall size. Plus, while…

I actually had a similar idea a while ago about darkening spots in the windshield instead of trying to block it with a visor. There are a couple issues with that though, primarily, you need a relatively complex system of sensors to calculate sun position and eye position to perfectly align the darkened area. The…

This is really going to get you going: Jeep does this too. Some of their headlights have little 7-slot grills on them, one of the models has a yeti etched in the rear glass, one has the loch ness monster. The roof key to take a Renegade MySky roof off is a seven-slot grill too. Lots of little things like that.

I was saying for comparison purposes. The Titan diesel is closer to a half ton than a three quarter ton. The ~12,000lb tow capacity was usually more than most 1/2 tons could muster (some manufacturers could come close when you got a special factory tow package with certain bed and cab lengths). Calling a 12k towing…

I would love if even a small part of this ended up in a new Xterra, but knowing Nissan, it won’t. It’ll most likely work some features off this into the Murano in about 10 years but will remain CVT’d and bland.

There was a possibility of getting a 1500 with the big motor and better axles. But the 10,000 capacity is for suburbans on a 2500 chassis, everything else is more like 6000. Also, most 1/2 ton trucks starting dipping under 10k towing when you start adding a lot of options and extra cab length any more.

Most importantly: When is the Raptor version coming?

Why does it have that big gaping maw if less than 1/4 of it is even open???

I can’t wait to buy one 7 years from now when the depreciation has kicked them in the pants! I’m hazarding a guess that they’ll be easier and cheaper to keep running than a v-6, and will last a little longer thanks to the natural balance.

Sounds like the GM design process....

Here’s my thoughts: it needs a tray table and a screen in front of the driver seat. Most current cars don’t have this for the passenger seat but mostly because that seat is open probably 80% of the time or more, so it would be added cost for very little benefit. The driver already is concentrating on driving, so they…

I’ve caught a couple of these testing in the area here over in Denver. This seems to be pretty accurate with the most recent batch I’ve seen (mild camo, I assume late testing phase). Those mirrors look a lot like the current Ram tow mirrors in their non-deployed position so that would be a good guess as to why the…

“Makes the Honda Civic Type R look like a Honda Civic” must be the new journalist codeword for “way overworked”. The first gen Impreza’s are beautiful BECAUSE of their simplicity, not in spite of it. What I would love to see from automakers are clean, simple lines, aero that was clearly designed into the vehicle but…

It’s a perfect step between a smaller crossover and a larger 3-row SUV. My wife absolutely hates driving my LR3 around town because of the size (similar to an explorer), but totally loved driving a Murano (closest direct competitor to the Edge). She very nearly bought the Murano over her Juke (I worked at Nissan and…

Honestly, who cares? If people are willing to pay it, then the market obviously supports it. If the market doesn’t support it, they lose out by having to sit on the car too long and paying the floor-planning for it. Making more money on a rare commodity makes them smart, not “scum”. Nobody has to buy a Type R in a…

I think Volvo was planning on launching a new S60 and V60 by the end of the decade. Any word on if they might drop a teaser at NAIAS?

The Xterra market didn’t really heat up until people found out that they had stopped building them. There were definitely dealers giving them away up until the final days. Took us an extra couple months to sell them but people were just happy to have them at that point, even for MSRP.

I didn’t work directly at this dealership but I was friends with several people who did work there. They’re mostly good guys with good integrity. I am willing to bet that there was some serious disciplinary action against any offending parties. My experience (having worked at Autonation for a long while) was that most…