Yeah, the read on Carl leaves a lot for the viewer to determine, but the suggestions are all there. We know he’s a traveling salesman who is often away for days or weeks at a time. If you think he’s telling the truth when he claimed to be always faithful then you think he was telling the truth about working late all…

One place where the MK4 GTI didn’t make an improvement over its predecessors was in its durability. This version is reputed to suffer a number of fiddly issues any one of which might make ownership a bit of an adventure.

Like any small car, how well you fit is likely down to your exact body shape and proportions.

$12K for a 20-year old BMW with pretensions of M-ness? Hell no. This thing has terrible proportions, a tiny cabin, too much weight and isn’t going to give you as good a fun:money ratio as you think. Those mismatched tires are going to be expensive, every repair is at BMW prices (and after 20 years there are whole…

and has a glass rear window.

they fit larger people better.

CP - for $2500 I'd buy it, wash it out, throw on a couple of seat covers and enjoy it until something expensive breaks. At twice that its a nightmare of neglect and a wallet-bomb waiting to go off. And that's coming from a convertible lover.

If you really want a hybrid, this may be a NP. I don’t. Also, my feelings about this car are irrevocably tainted by shady Ford salespeople trying to.push it aggressively on me at the dealership. My wife and I were looking for a baby-hauler and were trying to test-drive a Flex. Strangely, the only one they had was our…

Fill up the bed with water and you have a sitz-bath, not a party.

If it had a stick I’d have NP’d it at $500. Maybe even $750.

If you put three overweight friends in it the damn thing corners like it’s on rails. Not quickly, of course...

Actually, I have a couple of speeding tickets from NY state that will prove you wrong. You could easily get up to extra-legal speeds (at least with the stick) but it took a while. Of course, I was driving in upstate NY and the Staties just LOVED seeing a car with Canadian plates since they knew the driver wouldn’t…

Ironically, they did have turbo versions of the Sprint/Firefly siblings in Canada. There was a slight notch cut just above the grill labeled ‘intercooler’. 

CP - and that’s coming from someone who owned (and loved) a 1988 Chevy Sprint, the Canadian cousin of the lowly Geo Metro. The Sprint was incredibly fuel-efficient, actually fun to drive with the 5-spd and could pack an astonishing amount of stuff inside with the hatch lowered and the rear seat folded down. Twice I…

“Hey, this grenade cost $20 when new, but I’ve added more TNT, glued on some nails, wrapped it in barbed wire, shortened the spoon and filed down the pin so it comes out easier. I’ll sell it to you for only $18, you’ll look real badass with it!

Ironically, that’s exactly how I feel as well and I LOVE 4-seat convertibles. But I didn’t want this car when new and now want it even less. And I have a million other things I'd rather spend 63k on.

THIS IS MY SWEET SPOT!

<insert whynotboth.img>

Where to start?

I don’t need this. I don’t want this. I drive small, sporty convertibles. The Excursion was always a symbol of ludicrous excess and the bigger-is-better mentality that made Hummer a thing. That said...