Right? Every time HoYo announce or release a new game I wind up clicking on articles about it because the aesthetics, settings, and gameplay interest me, but then I see it’s gacha and close the browser window (or scroll down to the comment box, as I did this time).

It’s more of a Washington airport than Baltimore-Washington International; at least the Metro now goes all the way to Dulles.

20k is about right for a six-year-old VA-chassis WRX.

Eero Saarinen would love to see it.

I’ve been thinking of getting some winter rally wheels for the 996 on which I can toss some Hakkapeliittas, but it snows, like, two days a year here. It also vacillates around 45 F so often during winter. An excuse to buy new wheels, though...

No to the WRX, especially as it’s going to a teen eventually. The basic Impreza, however, is an excellent choice for this. You can get a new one for ~25k, so you can find one that’s a year or two old for well-within budget.

Someone thought they could make money by stealing something off of a car: it’s more akin to catalytic converter theft, which is also not easy to steal.

Whilst I agree with your larger thesis that the costs of repair and replacement are ridiculous, I wouldn’t necessarily call carving into a car to get at the headlights making something ‘easy-to-steal’. It requires even more preparation and forethought than breaking into a window to riffle through the glovebox, and I…

Not starred for the response to the BMW, not for the Lancia.

’m sure it will show up elsewhere here, but I love the Lancia Delta Integrale HF dash. It’s overwrought, but I love it.

I could only afford one console at the time, so I had a PS2; never knew this was a thing that could be done.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t the dealerships order a specific number of vehicles, the specifications for which are randomly assigned based off of whatever obfuscated ritual Toyota use to divine the market?

The biggest issue getting the Tacoma with a manual is that you can’t special order them: dealerships make the order and you have to choose what they have. You don’t get to ‘tick the box’. I’m actually pretty convinced the take rate would be higher than that if folks were given the option.

Not just you.

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

An old colleague of mine once told me something over beers that’s stuck with me ever since: “the first rule of oceanography is: no steel is truly stainless.” If you don’t want the patina that comes with use, you need to coat it with something. This whole thing is a performative farce.

I trust that I’ll always be able to find parts for a Porsche -- they bank on the fact that most of their cars ever built are still on the road -- so that’s what I’ve done.

I like this idea more.

If they want to talk during my commute, then they can pay me for my commute.

Where did I say anything about living alone? You’re putting words in my mouth or arguing with someone else you’ve made up. I had a reliable $2k car when you could still find one (long before cash for clunkers, so before used car values went through the roof) and lived with my parents when I was home from school.