It’s actually a lot worse than that: the volatile compounds in gasoline (i.e. the parts that ignite in a conventional engine when compressed and subjected to a spark) will gradually evaporate away over a period of months. Ever fill up at some El Cheapo gas station out in the middle of nowhere and notice your car…

My grandfather had a Pinto station wagon and liked it well enough, but the Pinto coupes and hatchbacks were cramped, uncomfortable deathtraps.

This is one of the cars that killed the American auto industry. Kids would grow up missing soccer games, movies, etc. because the POS diesel engine would constantly break down, then would watch their parents buy a Toyota or Mazda or whatever and rave about its reliability. When the time comes for that next generation…

I pity whoever had to park next to those loooong front doors.

Remind me again why people don’t just drive automatics (or CVTs, whatever) exclusively? Between clutch issues, “money shifts” and the like, it just seems like whatever marginal “fun” increases you might get from a stick shift are far outweighed by its drawbacks.

The worst would be many years ago: Walking out because we couldn’t agree on a price, only to have the Sales Manager charge after us, screaming “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE???” at the top of his lungs.

I just looked up my old car on the dealership’s website. They’re literally asking more for it than its original purchase price. Just crazy.

Nice job, particularly with the trick of doing a buyout, THEN trading in the car. I just read that as of today, Honda and GM are now requiring lessees to turn their old car in at that brand’s dealership instead of just anywhere; the dealers want that used car to sell.

Also: I checked the prices of Rogue Sports through my employer’s Auto Purchase Plan: Prices for a lease were running anywhere from $468-$600 a month for a Rogue Sport. So $421 ended up being a pretty good deal, considering.

A Maserati’s monthly payments were a little above what I felt comfortable paying.

My three previous leased Sentras have all been grey. I must confess that the blue is growing on me in a hurry.

Why? They’ve worked really well for me up until now. Who knew there would be a global pandemic that would bring the entire auto industry to a standstill over the want of some computer chips? This isn’t something anyone could reasonably have predicted.

I thought about it, but wasn’t too keen on keeping the Sentra for the long-term.

I didn’t particularly want to keep the old car, especially at the buyout rate.

Yes and no. The cars you see are generally the cars people don’t want that much. The cars that people DO want (such as affordably-priced hatchbacks) are so popular the dealerships can’t keep them on the lot. It’s hard to even find one to test-drive because most of the hatchbacks coming in have already been sold. I…

My car lease was due to expire in six months. I leased a new car over the weekend for almost DOUBLE my old lease payment ($225 to $421) , and that was after talking the dealership down almost $200/month. They gave me over $4K trade-in on my old lease because they were so desperate for a late-model used car to sell. It…

I loved it when it came out. There were some interesting mechanics: for example, Tony Montana would absolutely refuse to shoot any unarmed civilian on the street (supposedly, this was a directive from Al Pacino himself as a condition for his participation). You could point the gun at them, but if you pressed the…

My ex-wife and I owned a Fit. It was, by far, the most practical car I’ve ever driven. Damn shame you can’t buy one anymore.

The article is US-based.

I always love it when people claim to be sooooo concerned about “the unborn.” Could the reason be that once the kid pops out and might actually make demands of you, he or she is no longer “unborn” and you can stop pretending to care about them?