My Dodge has had none either but it is old enough to feature zero electronic parts. There have been complaints....

My own experience is a bit different since I buy old cars and keep them until nobody will sell parts to me anymore but I take your point. We’re just buying cars at different points on the depreciation curve.

You can’t maintenance away wear, this wasn’t cracked it was worn clear through...just like several electronic dash components that failed soon after, but that’s a story for another day

Forget NSRO, past 15 years there aren’t too many car-makers that will sell you factory parts.

Best of luck then. The only “safe” option for modders in CA are pre-1976 cars and even that has limitations (if you aren’t running a pre-1976 motor your car can still be cited).

“how many manual transmission-equipped station wagons you can buy new here in the U.S. these days?”

Unfortunately the infection has spread, there are now a fair number of states with CARB style smog laws. You could be living in one now.

To be fair, I cut off Smart4two drivers on principle. That and for hypermiling in the fast lane. You’re welcome to drive like you own a tractor trailer but both belong in the right-hand lane. The rest of us have places to be.

Valid point. Toyota’s hold their value quite well, arguably better than they should. It just seemed absurd that you averaged around 3 years per car since the 350 didn’t come out till 2005.

KHAAAAN!

If you plant a crate LS motor from JEGS in your Miata I’m pretty sure you can still get it warranteed (albeit not the reinstall), it just won’t work after you throw forced injection and stiff valve springs into it. Either way California will very likely reject it (having a blue airbox vs the factory black one is OMG…

My apologies for saying “several years”, I thought this model lasted way longer than it actually did. In reality it was only good for 3 years, one of which was very arguably inferior to the G8 it replaced.

The G8 used to be the only way to get a manual LS based 4 door but that changed years ago. Both the SS and CTS-V offered the option. (The SS did not for several years)

It won’t but I grew up with the crappy interiors of older cars and yes for a few $$$ you can get custom seats in any style or color you like.

This is better than a LS Miata, how? (which I can answer, since California DMV will laugh and laugh at your engine swapped post-smog car ... and then ask you to wait 4 hours in a second line until ultimately being denied) There is a reason pre-smog cars carry such a huge premium and this is it.

Europe is hardly exclusive in this (AKA White Man Bad). Look at a map of China over the years sometime. Our immigrants crushed the Americas, but the Clovis people also crushed the pre-Clovis people. They don’t even get a name of their own let alone territory. How screwed up is that?

If you’ve owned 4 Toyotas in that timeframe shouldn’t you be leasing?

I agree, the CTS does not have a great interior for a modern luxury sedan.

Sadly correct. The G8 GXP is even more. I don’t know in which universe those two sedans should cost more than an older CTS-V but...they do in this one.

“proper” maintenance on the many electrical things under the dash seems difficult. How often should we be doing complete teardowns on those?