Snort. It isn’t all about friendship. Like it or not people judge you as a person and that can affect your career. Go ahead and show up to the next corporate function and have your boss’s boss see you rolling in with your hoopty slammed WRX with fart-can muffler. See the non-verbal queues you get from that.

I don’t really get where you are going with this comment so I will just say... Households making $150k a year typically have more monthly expenses (by choice) than ones making, say, $40k a year. So for the vast majority of families, they just don’t set up their lives such that they “live” on a $40k a year lifestyle…

Ok, But for the uber-deal shopper, which cars have a nonlinear depreciation? I want one that drops in value after 3 years, then flatlines for 7 or 8 years before tanking in value right after I trade it in.

My deal with the MKZ is that I don’t really see it as a “value" just because it depreciated at lot more than a fusion. If it's equal to the fusion in the spec, but it is still a few thousand more than a similarly aged fusion, then the fusion is the better deal even if it hasn't depreciated as much.

Even with stretchy pants there's only so much room to slide back out of that booth!

Came here for this. For about the same money you can have a GTI that handles better, goes faster, has all the interior benefits, has a 5 year warranty AND is easy to get license tabs every year.

Except it isn’t just “on them” because people who didn’t like the meal are much less likely to tip well. And long term, probably won’t come back nearly as much. Which if it happens often enough, can lead to the general condition of everybody at that restaurant being unemployed.

I hate the “left room for dessert” question. No I don’t want to instantly gear up to consume a $12 mound of chocolate cake and a scoop of icecream after just eating that hugely over-portioned plate of food you just brought me.

How ridiculously expensive would even a minor rear “fender bender” be? Even a minor tap would have you breaking off turbo bits.

Yep. I’ve had more than one person look at me funny when I referenced a big SUV as a minivan. Only to then have them agree after they thought about it.

Yes... Because all cars should be black, white or gray... /S

It will be interesting to see how real world fuel consumption measures up to the government ratings. As the engine does not always run in HCCI mode, the fuel savings will really be dependent on how often they are running in that mode. These things have the potential to be off by even more than normal cars.

Talking about selling the original wheel for more in a few years... How about we jack up cars on lifted suspensions, call them crossovers and charge more for them. Then the following year we’ll offer an even higher spec version of crossover with “sport" suspension that lowers the ride height.

Agreed. Honestly, if you live/drive in a metro area there are vanishingly few places you can make use of 400+ horsepower without having everyone around you think you are a complete dick. And those guys who insist on it have already bought a Camaro or Mustang GT.

I’m not going to make a determination based on a couple of web images viewed on my phone, but I wouldn’t be handing a beauty contest trophy to the S3 just yet. The S3 is bland looking, and I honestly would not use the term “evocative” to describe it. Derivative would be the better term. And this is coming from a guy…

There's a lot of truth in this stinging take.

IDK. As a guy that uses his B8.5 S4 95% for commuting, the ATS-V always looked like a great little car that would be fun for hooning on that rare Saturday morning I didn’t have to do something boring with the kids. But that doesn’t go nearly far enough to get me to put it on my shopping list. The CT4-V looks like it…

Meh.

I haven’t seen CM, so I have no comment on that. But I think you give WW too much credit. Gal Gadot did great in it, she looked every bit the part of WW, and her and Pine had good chemistry. But the “weaving” of mythology was literally just, “here’s a force field that has kept you ignorant of me for forever.”

A reasonable assumption? OK, let’s look over your “reasonable assumption.” Google says there were about 2 million rental cars on the roads as of 2012 (the most recent year I could find with a quick, half-assed search.) Many/most of those rented from people likely travelling in areas they are unfamiliar with and/or…