The crash requirements for commercial vehicles are different, but they very much still exist. They are rarely re-tested by NHTSA and IIHS due to the cost of the vehicles and the scale/cost of the required testing systems.

But as I said above, the standards do exist and automakers are expected to perform and document…

**...by NHTSA or the IIHS.

The FMVSS contain copious requirements for crashworthiness and crash survivability. We have a self-certification model for the FMVSS standards, where automakers and suppliers follow the test procedures laid out in the FMVSS and provide documentation of this to NHTSA before they can sell those…

I do currently have a ZDX and it works and looks great for me, a childless person who does not regularly get manicures.

I wont lie, I get genuine enjoyment out of watching people try to find the rear handles on my ZDX. It’s black so it’s extra hard.

It almost makes up for the shame I immediately feel when they then try to climb into the back seat. Love the damn car but the ergo all around is dogshit.

New here? They do these “poll the readers” questions pretty often. This site is a business and to stay IN business they need to drive clicks. While the writers work on “real” articles, it’s easy for them to foster a bit of genuine engagement with articles like this. The time it took to set this up has no real impact…

I’ll kick it off with maybe an unpopular opinion... I like those second-row door handles that disappear into the trim work. I find them surprisingly ergonomic and, when done well, keep the style lines really tight. Honda’s HRV and the Acura ZDX are the examples that immediately jump to mind but there are a bunch.

I think twitch is probably most worried about copycats and someone frying themselves on-stream trying to get famous. The “how long and how publicly would twitch host a dead/dying person before it got caught and stopped” is something that probably keeps twitch’s lawyers up at night.

Gosh you know, it feels like every time I’m faced with a sociopolitical issue, it always comes back to either income inequality or public transportation and safe/sustainable infrastructure.

Super weird, right? It couldn’t possibly be some sort of pattern and there’s definitely not any other countries that might prove…

Fundamentally, if I have to spend an extra 15 seconds getting a stupid finger-print sensor thing to let me drive my car in exchange for a meaningful reduction in the lives lost due to drunk driving, that’s great. I’ll take that deal.

In some ways, this is like when drinking and driving was first outlawed. A lot of…

I think that’s a fair counterpoint- locale makes a big difference. Here in Phoenix there’s not a ton of scarcity in the lightly-used market, but I could absolutely see why folks in smaller towns would need to buy new just to be able to buy anything at all that isnt the aforementioned 150k shitbox we both agree does…

Yeah if someone I knew was INSISTING on a brand-new car but had a modest budget, I’d tell them to go to Mazda or Hyundai. The only places right now where I feel like a base-trim car at the bottom of the lineup has ANY value proposition, but you’re also still in the $20k range nowadays.

BUT- you sorta proved my point by…

I think you’re missing my point...
I’m not arguing that people should buy 15 year old 150k shitboxes. Not arguing against it either, it’s just not related to my point.
I’m also not arguing that people shouldn’t buy new cars at all.

I’m arguing that the value proposition of an entry-level, base trim, budget car from the…

I think your math is a bit disingenuous- after delivery, dealer, and registration fees you’d be awfully tight trying to get a $17k car home for $300 a month with only $2k down. $350 is probably more realistic.

But if our price point was $17k, I’d still point someone towards a lease-return 2021 mid-trim Seltos or…

Other than the visibility and the ergonomics of the back seat, the ZDX is a truly wonderful car. It’s quirky and out-there, but it still drives great and is reliable as hell. And considering they made fewer of them than the original NSX, I’m really surprised there isn’t more of a cult following!

Absolutely- but I will say I don’t think we have to play the binary of “new car vs used >10 year old car that needs work” - My main point is that I think people could be in a car that doesn’t require much more work than a brand new car, but is nicer, better equipped, and better to drive than any base trim new car and…

And that works for some people! My dad is one of those people. He drove base-trim white Honda Accords from 1992 until 2018. Only two cars.

For me, at least- and for how I see and value cars -I would have rather paid the same money for a high-trim used Civic with a radio and more power and gotten even just 10 or 15…

There is a charm to the entry spec once it’s no longer a necessity. My friends and I always joke about each of us “50/50-ing” a car: Find the cheapest possible base trim lightly used car for $10k and put $10k of mods into it. What could we create? It would be fun.

Absolutely true, I fully agree- But I think people underestimate how reliable of a used vehicle they can get. Finding a nice, recent year, used car for the new-normal ~$20k entry for a new car is NOT a challenging prospect.

I really believe that, with a little bit of work and patience (which I absolute recognize is…

The gas is a fair point, but I got frustrated with my new-car-buying-options and threw my hands up in the air and went fully off the rails. I would stand by my point and just recommend people make a less ridiculous decision than I made.

The smart decision I ALMOST made before I fell in love with my stupid bubble-butt…

Since I bought mine functionally sight-unseen, I actually spent $2500 on the extended warranty, and whether or not the timing belt had ever been done was one of the things that wasn’t clear. Got it back to Arizona and I told my mechanic to tear the thing apart- if he couldn’t come up with at least $5k worth of shit to…