My neighbor just got a Golf Sportwagen for his two kids (6 and 9) and he loves it. He’s a huge German car enthusiast (his other cars are a 1990 M5, a VW Eurovan with camper options, an aging BMW LeMons car that hasn't run in years and he just got rid of his ancient diesel Golf). I'm glad he's happy with VAG products,…

I know I’m late to the party, but why hasn’t anyone recommended a Mini convertible? Manual, four seats, fun to drive, modern and WAY under $40k. You can buy a new one with a warranty if you’re scared by the rep, although I’ve owned two and never had any problems. Worst case scenario, you’ve got plenty left for…

NP all day, every day.

A friend of mine had one of these from a slightly later vintage. I wouldn’t mock him for it because he was about 4 years into fighting an excruciatingly intense custody battle with his ex-wife that would go on for another 10 years and he was devoting all his financial resources to that. Still, he was the first to make…

On the plus side: it has a stick.

Depending upon your definition of ‘cool’ my dad has owned some very cool cars - along with some completely forgettable family sedans like the Olds Cutless Ciera and the Buick Skylark in the mid-80's. As I remember them:

Ok, story time. I’m a Canadian with dual citizenship that moved down to the US in 2000. I’m pretty patriotic and I have a bunch of Canada-wear, fly a Canadian flag under the stars and stripes on my flag pole (gotta observe proper protocol) and generally embrace the whole Canadian identity just to the point of being…

The issue was more one of size than fear of minivans. We’re a family of small car lovers and when my Mini convertible didn’t baby as well as we’d hoped, we needed something with more capacity since my wife’s Honda Fit was suddenly our big road trip car. It actually babied quite well, but opening the back doors wide…

You sound very biased

Diesel engine is nice, manual is good, condition is fine. Never a fan of the Golf look overall, but whatever. The killer here isn’t even the price, it’s the VW badge. That engine may very well run until the heat death of the universe, but the rest of that car is going to have a million little issues that will all be…

You have no idea how hard my wife and I tried to avoid buying a minivan. We considered (then long out of production) Honda Elements, a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI and a variety of Subarus. The goal was something that would carry our baby, all her stuff, at least two other adults and all our collective luggage in…

I had a co-worker who got an older 318i around the time this car was new and he was never able to shed the self-loathing that came with owning the smallest, weakest BMW. I personally never cared for them, but whatever.

I know a manager who would use this go-to line any time a male would like to get his wife’s opinion: “You have to call your wife and ask permission?”

This is an act of cruelty to put this in front of poor, helpless jalops. It’s an old German car with a ton of shit ALREADY wrong with it, a ton of miles, a shitty paint job and a high price. It’s the fucking poster child for the saying “there’s nothing more expensive than a cheap German car” and it’s not even that…

Oooh, good catch! I wasn’t sure they still made the Beetle so I was checking on Edmunds.com and sorting by convertibles and the Camaro didn’t show up. It does indeed make the list and it’s not a terrible car if you like that sort of thing. I test drove one and found the sight lines terrible (even for a convertible,…

Do they make one with four seats? If not, it’s hardly a four-seat convertible, is it?

Technically it does, but the top requires you to pull over, get out and spend 10 minutes assembling it by the side of the road, so not exactly a convenient convertible.

If you look at the way most people drive their cars, the back seats are actually only used rarely for passengers. Kids and dogs are the most common and they take up a lot less room, thus the cramped back seats of most 4-seat convertibles. I can (and have) put four adults in my Mini drop top for short trips, but I’d…

You are technically correct (the best kind of correct, naturally), but I disqualify the Jeeps as you have to spend ten minutes manually assembling the top by the side of the road when it starts to rain. A convertible should let you put the top up or down from inside the car and in less than a minute or two. But yes,…

Elwood was Jake’s getaway driver and had literally hundreds of tickets and moving violations as well as a warrant for his arrest. He drives recklessly (to say the least), participates in multiple crimes, thought of the glue and is adept at destroying machinery. He can hardly be considered “not a troublemaker.”