I would.  In any corporation of that size it’s worth the money just to avoid having lawyers and regulators nosing around your papers, even if you did nothing wrong.  

Neutral: I have experienced “unintentional acceleration.” It was in the late 1990s after I’d only been driving for a year or two. I hit Resume on the cruise control in my 1989 Bonneville within a couple mph of the set point, at which point it floored the gas and just kept accelerating well past the set point. When I…

1st:  I didn’t “intend” for the car to accelerate that damned quick that I lost control of it.  

1st: Renault has every motivation to make this thing work. Nissan... Has some motivation, on paper at least. I suspect the end result will be some renegotiation that takes the Renault takeover off the table and puts the two halves on more equal footing.

My uncle (practically brother) and his wife bought one, in bright yellow, new in 2005, with some hefty discounting and using my grandpa’s GM retiree discount. Had my cousin (their son) not smashed it last year, it would still be going. Thing had a gazillion miles on it, and it just kept on going and going. They loved…

Accord a midsize lol

Many yards in Metro Detroit are pick-and-pull style, where you pay a buck or two, sign the registry (which is also a big ol’ waiver), bring your tools into the yard, and wrench until you have what you came for. A couple of my preferred yards actually have big movable engine lifts so you can yank an engine. $150 plus…

Agreed on U.S. Auto.  They’re in my rotation when I’m preparing for a yard trip.  

My husband’s on his second D3-based Taurus, this one a 2017 Limited.  I really don’t understand how people think they’re small inside.  Like, maybe if you weigh 400 pounds it feels small, but it’s a huge car, inside and out.  

Not familiar with that specific yard, but Detroit boneyards are a thing of joy. Bring a toolbag and a buddy and wile away the hours wrenching on what you need and, occasionally, having a big ol’ wave of nostalgia from finding a brother or sister to something you drove back in the time.

I don’t know what the current numbers are. In the mid-2000s, the $2,000/vehicle for UAW (including current and retired UAW members) was accurate for Ford and believed to be a bit low for GM.  After the 2007 contracts began to shift that to the UAW by way of the VEBA, I believe the cost differences are largely worked…

Trouble for especially Ford is that if they do try to hold onto still-viable but not brand-new tech or platforms, they get shit on mercilessly. Toyota and Subaru do the same thing and get praised for it. Seriously, ask about the current Taurus, which is a fine car-reliable, roomy, powerful, comfortable-and people…

#COTD

Neutral: I got my license the day after I turned 16, mostly because that was the soonest available slot for the mandatory driving test. I did drivers’ ed as soon as possible, practiced as much as possible, and passed the test on the first try. But, I lived in a rural area, and having a license meant having freedom. If…

No, it’s just a thing here, whether SUV or sedan or truck, doesn’t matter. People literally slow down more for rain than they do for snow. 70 in a clapped-out Malibu on half-bald all-seasons in an ice storm between Jackson and Ann Arbor? Of course, why wouldn’t you drive that fast in an ice storm? (Yes, I was on 94 on…

US-131 is known to be pretty heavily enforced, or at least it was when I went to Ferris. Otherwise, it’s like the rest of the freeways in Northern Michigan-designed for high speeds in 1960s cars before anyone gave a shit about the environment or wasting land. I can tell you Grand Rapids to Big Rapids is an easy 25-minu…

And the freeways in question are the case in point. Before the increased limit, people used to run 90-100 pretty comfortably, as there wasn’t a ton of enforcement and those freeways are very comfortable at speed. Now, it’s like the MSP took it personally that the state raised the limits, and they patrol the thing very…

Most of those now-75 freeways, though, are comfortable at 100 mph. I’m not even talking 100 in a modern sport sedan or high-performance car. I’m talking 100 in a 1978 Lincoln Continental.  That it takes heavy heavy patrol by the Michigan State Police to keep speeds under 90 should tell you something.  

Given crash and fatality rates between the German Autobahn system and the US Interstate system, we have plenty of evidence that is actually correct.  

Michigan’s terrible for insurance.  Now imagine paying twice that again.  That’s Detroit insurance.  With a clean driving record and a car with a bunch of nanny-tech, my insurance per month is as much as my car payment.