Thank you for the background!

About 20 years ago, I did a senior project in college trying to figure out ways to get people to buy more stuff in the store, either by luring them in from the pumps or “bringing the store” out to them. Precisely because of what you say about margins.

I’m pretty sure most gas stations have razor thin or zero margin on gas. Or at the very least, they have much higher margins on the convenience products in the store.

The bathrooms are indeed very good. In fairness, I’ve only experienced the place when it’s a total madhouse. I could see it being a lot more enjoyable when it isn’t totally packed.

Yeah, but then there wouldn’t be some shock-and-awe content for people to gawk at.

Lots of people don’t recognize the Total Cost of Ownership. It includes: financing (interest), depreciation, taxes, fuel, registration, maintenance, repairs, insurance.

In 2023, Toyota’s 3rd fastest car is a 3-cylinder Corolla, beaten only by the Supra 2.0T and 3.0T.

The thing that made Dale Earnhard’s death so frustrating was his refusal to use a HANS device, which was fairly new at the time and not yet mandatory in NASCAR.  There is a very good chance it would have saved his life in that crash.

My few experiences there have always been on busy holiday travel weekends, so my view may be biased. The tourist effect has put me off.  Unfortunately I lose that decision because my wife and kids love the place.

Unpopular opinion: Buc-ee’s

Seeing as how a lot of automotive suppliers operate on a very lean JIT system, I assume halting assembly lines and distribution of parts would quickly stop production lines at suppliers downstream. The effect would vary based on the diversity of the supplier’s production (do all their parts go to Toledo or do they go…

Here is a photo of the prototype when VTEC kicked in:

When he said he flies “literally all the time”, I assumed he utilized in-flight refueling. However, he also talked about eating in land-based restaurants. So either he is a liar, or Denny’s has a secret chain of aerial restaurants.

whoosh

I believe non-hybrid Toyotas with a CVT transmission use a traditional belt-driven design.

The mistake is equating “lifetime” with “forever”. The reality is, “lifetime” is a squishy term that can mean a lot of things, mostly in favor of the manufacturer.

Especially one built on sabado

This slide show was a nice trip down memory lane. Made me realize how many awesome car toys I had completely forgotten about!

Are you implying that America was “smarter” before those things existed?

It’s probably the dude at work that routinely brags about “doing 130” and “gapping Chargers” in his Kia K5 (not the fast one).