Easiest experience was at a CarMax-owned Toyota dealer in Maryland (that has since been sold to a conventional dealership group). Toyota dealers seem to play a lot of games with price or finding the vehicle you want. This CarMax dealer was able to find me the RAV4 Hybrid I wanted through their allocation system, gave…

The argument I heard for leasing in this market is if you couldn’t get the car you wanted that you just leased something to bide your time.  Still, your example indicates that even buying that same car and trading it in after 3 years might still be better financially because both payments have jumped.

Pittsburgh International Airport did this for a while so people could shop at the Airmall. You had to check in at a specific airport counter for a “pass”.  There are actually some good shops there, and the concessions operator was required to charge off-airport prices. Of course, that operator was forced out by the…

No hybrid?  Hard pass.  Mazda is coming out with PHEVs in the next year or two.

A Toyota dealer that didn’t play games. It was owned by CarMax. The price was no-haggle (and still competitive), I didn’t have to put down a deposit to reserve the car, and there was zero finance office pressure.  We bought three cars from them in six months between myself, my brother, and my now-wife.  Unfortunately,…

Barbera?  They seem shady as hell.  Think they got in trouble with the Feds at one point?

Looking at you Hyundai and Toyota (in the Venza at least) now.  Time for dash buttons instead of piano black capacitive controls

OP must have not heard about the signed contract loophole before it closed.  If he had a signed contract and a non-refundable deposit (assuming the dealer would provide one), he’d still qualify for the tax credit.

I’d love to know why they added a GDI engine, given it wasn’t necessary with the hybrid powertrain to hit fuel economy standards. The risk of carbon buildup (which I had in my 2015 CR-V) has soured me on any engine that doesn’t offer duel injection.

The challenge is none of these midsize SUV EVs have a cargo area as large as the ICE models (CR-V, RAV4, etc...). It’s probably the aerodynamics that cut into capacity, but it definitely creates an impediment for families.

I can attest to some of these issues. We rented from Hertz in HNL last month and were given a 3-year-old Infiniti QX60 with no CarPlay, a steering wheel that clicked while turning (as if you were turning a gear), deep diagonal scratches in the rocker panel and lower door, and a forward collision warning that would…

Some of this might have been availability-related (i.e. either long waits or large markups for mainstream models). I know some on the RAV4 Prime Reddit have gone and purchased the Lexus NX plug-in hybrid because they were easier to find and not marked up five figures like some Toyota dealers were asking.  If you’re…

Hyundai/Kia and fire risk now seem to go hand in hand

Thank you for calling this out.  It is definitely one of my pet peeves of vehicle nomenclature.

Hence the reason most of the dealers are next to the used car lot - why buy used when you can buy new with a warranty for the same price, even if the experience would be better with used?

Mitsubishi Outlander Sport - it’s been the same bones for over a decade (no matter what new grille they put on it), there’s nothing sporty about it, it’s cheaply made (down to fake side vents), there are much better options in the used car market, and (frankly) I see too many of them in my area.

Virtually every single one of those eligible EVs is made by a manufacturer not known for reliability

I’d say the 360 degree camera.  It makes getting in and out of tight spaces much easier, plus you can see if you’re in the lines of a parking space without opening the door.

Most of these vehicles are not made by the most reliable companies or aren’t that appealing for most (see Nissan Leaf).

The 2015 CR-V was a miss. It was the first iteration of GDI and CVT in the model.  The CVT suffered from multiple issues (including occasionally shuddering when backing up shortly after starting), and mine also needed a new cylinder head after I had carbon buildup from the GDI.  They also said they were planning to…