Minis will always be more expensive than class competition. The interior and exterior styling is truly unique and you’re jumping to the top trims of any competitor for comparable performance.

GM should just be thanking their stars they didn’t re-brand the Escalade the “XTMaX” or something ridiculous. “Escalade” arguably carries more weight than “Cadillac” now. I had to Google “XLR” to see the other recommended vehicle in the comments yet I could draw a Seville, DeVille etc. from memory.

The combustion engine is obsolete. We should’ve all just moved on by now amirite? Oh, people enjoy it???

I think this has more to do with the TLC the autos have been receiving over the years and the manuals being an afterthought. I don’t think it’s as much of a manual vs. auto issue.

With some patience and diligence it’s possible. I love the style of sedans, but was about to buy a hot hatch for 3 pedals. Shopped for 18 months and an F30 rolled through with my desired spec and I pulled the trigger instantly. I did drive a Focus RS and loved it, but it only had 5k miles and had already been ragged…

People don’t learn how to swim in a pool full of floaties. 

since everyone needs one

It off-roads better than pickups and pickups better than a Wrangler, but it’s not a better pickup than pickups and not a better Wrangler than Wranglers.

wasn’t quite as efficient as advertised

I share your take. I just see people rolling mods into asking and I’m not sure where the deal ends up being made. Would be interesting to have the data. Maybe Wranglers get something back for lifts and big tires, but people take an L on downpipes and lowered suspension.

What percentage of an investment in aftermarket accessories/work can someone reasonably expect to see in resale?

I consider the lease cost to cover the first three years of depreciation. I don’t think they could price the lease right because they’d effectively have to cover six years of depreciation even if there’s only three years of wear and tear.

Wow, a lot of hate for HD here. I don’t care for the brand, but don’t expend energy hating it and am okay with letting people enjoy things.

KK is famous for filming herself taking the pipe.

This reminds me of when all the GPUs were gobbled up to be stacked in warehouses by wealthy investors. The end result was a pricing out of the vast majority of consumers who wanted to buy their graphics processing unit to... process graphics.

Three pedals. Good body work. Handsome styling from a brand that’s largely gotten away from this. A nameplate, and era, where you could look to get to 300k without unreasonable maintenance and repair costs.

So, you’ll likely have to pay money to get out of the Stinger and you’re looking to get into a car valued at what you owe on the Stinger presumably with very little down based on no mention of this, but the end goal is to get lower payments?

The garage can be used as a shop without converting it into a room - often destroying the value of the home.

As much as I envy your fleet it sounds like I want nothing to do with what you budget toward transportation. Reading your comment, it’s obvious it’s all well-planned out from your end so please don’t take this as criticism. 

I’m going to drive my car with my own two hands til the day I die.