Lexus IS300 Sportcross: A small, practical, reliable fun to drive premium wagon. A class of car that basically no longer exists.

I’ve been considering one of these to upgrade my older 4Runner to Carplay but every review I read says these are best avoided. 

Am I missing something or are all these new cars with massive full width screens going to be junk in 15 years when the computers brick? It’s not like you can just swap a new head unit in like the old days.

There’s no reason a reboot has to suck. A road trip show with charismatic hosts travelling to interesting places in cool cars is a great concept, they just need to find the right hosts and give the show time to find its voice. People forget Top Gear was not particularly exciting for the first few seasons.

Which means a 20mil fine is a rounding error to them. 

The reason we have limited options is because no one was buying them. Go back 20-30 years and there were a lot more small cars available. Manufacturers did not discontinue all those models because they were profitable and successful.

I’m no Buccees superfan but my girlfriend is, so I’ve stopped there many times in FL. I’ve never had to wait for the restroom, even when they are packed, and they are as clean as advertised. Their gas is always cheaper than any other neighboring station, and about on par with the membership only places like Costco and…

So in addition to old jag reliability, you will also get new jag depreciation if you choose to actually drive it, since the only difference between this and a 15K XJR is the mileage.

I have a 4Runner, which seemed a sensible counterpart to a 300ZX that has now reached vintage status. The 4Runner is pretty much capable of doing everything the Z cannot. A reputation for bulletproof reliability and good ground clearance in a city that frequently floods were also big selling points.

Have you looked at housing costs in any major US city recently?

I’ll second Goodwood for sure, it’s very hard to beat FoS for sheer variety of cars. Everything from brass era cars to brand new exotics, motorcycles and even trucks running up a hill climb. Plus there’s a forest rally stage. 

In my hometown there was also a cop who was known as the traffic nazi, people said he would write his own mother a ticket for going 26 in a 25mph zone. That level of overzealous policing is just not necessary.

I still see Focus STs, one of my neighbors actually owns one, but I can’t remember the last time I saw a regular Focus from this generation.

The price is high but it’s probably positioned correctly for the market. 35-40K is Miata money these days. 

As a Z fan and owner, I’m going to have to completely disagree with your take here. I hate the mega mouth look and think the heritage split grille is an absolutely massive improvement. Being able to choose this grille is a fantastic option. 

They actually shot those scenes in Fort Lauderdale, not Miami. I saw them loading the Porsches on the trailer while I was driving to work.

There are plenty of later generation autos, but I never see NA autos for sale. 

I initially misunderstood this article and thought someone had started a ferry as an alternative to going over the bridge but instead... they just drive you over the bridge? That seems a bit crazy but I know driving anxiety is a major issue for some people. 

Weirdly it seems automatic NA Miatas are all gone, I never see them come up for sale. I know it’s sacrilege around here but my girlfriend wants one and has no interest in learning to drive stick.