My only regret is that I have but one upvote to give you. I have thought for years that Elon Musk is the "biggest fucking douchebag in America."

It won't. Have you driven a current Tesla? The tech is cool, but it drives awful.

Looking at the *reported* attendance from the early bowl games, you're right - the FCS playoff get a little less than half. Do you think FBS should do similar and have home games for favored teams? I'll admit that I don't like that idea at all, but I also don't like the playoffs Mostly, that's because I enjoy…

How is the attendance at those early playoff games? Better or worse than the bowl games now?

I'll admit it, I think it cheapened the regular season and made the other bowl games less interesting. Sure, if you're a Buckeye fan - this turned out great. But for the rest of America, I think it was a bit of a letdown.

We bought a pack of six from RockAuto for $115 (with a $20 coupon), plus $50 for six Bosch plugs for my brother-in-law's 330i.

The N/A straight six is pretty reliable if you have good maintenance records on them, and I find the engine pretty easy to work on compared to other brands, assuming you don't mind "unlearning" a few preconceptions.

It's because of the demographics. If you think you're rich enough to want a BMW, then you don't want anything outside of the current generation. Chances are also good you have no idea how to change your own oil, let alone perform the basic requirements to keep the car serviceable.

The "lead balloon resale" is because the average American who can afford a five series doesn't know how to wrench on his own cars and spends dealership prices to maintain it, then gripes when a job that could have taken $150 in parts and a few hours at most costs $800. The fart-can enhanced Subaru with a giant wing…

Ah, my apologies. I just did these and spark plugs on my brother-in-law's 330i and it was significantly easier than the exact same job on my mom's old Mazda 6.

Find me one with anywhere near the luxury and handling of this BMW, please. Must be stick.

I'm that guy - find me this car with less mileage and RWD and I'd already have bought it.

Legitimate comparison - thank you. It is tough to find manual V70R's in decent shape (spaceballs rule); the last one that was on NPoCP was being offered for $17K if I am not mistaken. However, as stated before - I'll take an '05+ in Sonic Blue over Atacama over this 530 any day of the week.

You are comparing a Japanese economy car with a freaking 5 series. You either don't value any of the luxury that the BMW has in spades over the Subaru or you simply have never owned a nice car.

Please find me more of these $8500 stick shift luxury wagons.

Coil packs do go bad at about 100K, but it's a couple hours and $150 in parts at most.

You should make your kid just ride the bus - it's the safest form of transportation.

A lot of the idea was mine, but the choice of which "cool but inexpensive old car to wrench on" was his - just like the blue PV544 that my pop and I found at a yard sale. You know what? Having lived it now from both sides - that works for me.

Maybe if I had a daughter. My son and I enjoyed rebuilding his Datsun 260Z and learning the finer points of car maintenance. I hope he keeps it as long as I have kept the '59 Volvo PV544 that I refurbished with my (late) father so many years ago. I suppose THAT is my goal.

Who wants a soul-less Toyota, though? You'll turn your kid into a Consumer Reports subscriber.