I’ve always loved these cars, and this is by and away the nicest example of one I’ve seen in a decade. These cars are pure nostalgia for me: My family was pretty poor, but my best friend through school lived with his grandparents, who had an ‘87 Town Car. They treated me like part of the family, and I always felt…

Ugly does not describe the current Civic.  The first Civic in two decades that made me have any interest, yes.  The first Civic in two decades that actually had personality beyond “Siberian prison” or “mundane appliance,” yes.  Ugly?  No.  I find the current Civic the best looking of that segment.  Had the…

For a brief shining moment, it seemed like Honda was going to try injecting some life into their lineup again.

500% more boring.  Instead of an interesting car with personality, now it’s just the offspring of an Accord and a Passat.  Yawn. 

Turbo 4 or V6?  Why not both?  Or in my case a *supercharged* V6.  And it’s amazing!  Thing’s got power for days, decent on gas besides.  Shame more companies don’t do supercharging.  

Last year we took my husband’s 2017 Taurus (3.5 V6, naturally aspirated) over Monarch Pass in CO (11,300 feet). That car’s normally decently gutsy, never feels like you’re begging for it to go. Going up Monarch? My foot was very very much in it just to get it to move, let alone go quickly. We were both shocked how…

There are plenty of things about Detroit’s transit situation to bag on.  The transfer question you spend considerable time on, however, is not amongst them.  The price to ride is the price to ride, which includes transfers good for either or between systems for up to four hours.  

For me, I chose the higher mileage newer car (a 3-year-old XE with 50,000 miles) over something 5-6 years old. The difference is 2-3 years newer plastics underhood, which prevents things like coolant tanks and hose tees failing. Also, in the north, that’s 2-3 less years of salt, which will kill a car faster than…

Strong agreement here! If the body and structure are sound, doing that suspension rebuild becomes a reasonable investment. If the body and structure are rusted through, you’re already behind the 8-ball. I sold on my second X-Type rather than do the front end rebuild because the car was too rusty to make it worth the…

As someone that grew up literally below the poverty line, I have trouble sympathizing with middle-class folks whining about how bad they had it. Like, your family had a Tahoe. Boo hoo. My family had a black Cavalier Type 10, and its one luxury was an AM/FM radio. No A/C and no useful window for back seat passengers. I…

I’ll give you the Veloster N, for sure, as well as the Soul.  I genuinely like those (and I kicked around the notion of a Veloster N when I was car shopping).  Actually, I agree with you:  most of their lineups are well-styled.  

I’ve done both new and used. New I bought a 2006 Honda Element and a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST. Used (and expensive enough to finance, not beater-used) I bought a 3-year-old 2017 Jaguar XE. In my estimation it really comes down to what you’re buying (I’d never consider buying a used sports car, for instance), where you’re…

Neutral: The rural healthcare system my mother works for in Michigan has, to date, not thrown away a single dose of vaccine. They dedicated a couple of full-time staff to managing vaccine handling and distribution, and they’ve had very good success.

I’ve had 5 different cars with manuals as my dailies, and I’ve driven others.  I’ve never encountered one that could not get started as described.  In point of fact, even if I get into a car I’m unfamiliar with, that’s how I start it off the first couple times so I can get a feel of where the clutch picks up. 

This is exactly how I was finally taught.

Definitely did. That was years ago now, and that car and good payment history on it did wonders for him and his credit. The advantage was that because it was a reputable dealer, even though the rate was sky-high, the payment history all got reported. The alternatives were to buy something private-party used or buy…

Yes.  My spouse had some blemishes on his credit from before I met him.  The only reputable dealer that would sell him a car did so at 24.99%. 

Pretty much everything on my ‘95 F-150 falls into this PITA category. Top of this list is replacing radius arm bushings and axle pivot bushings.  These basically involve dismantling the front of the truck and rebuilding it.  But, the leak out of my timing cover has gotten bad, and that one’s gonna be a nightmare too.

Ooh, a plaque for 200,000 km! Oh boy! My 1978 Lincoln Continental has more than that (140,000 miles). The ‘89 Buick Riviera I had as a young man made it into the era of early camera phones, so I actually have a picture of that one’s odometer at 200,000 miles.

It’s not the 1970s anymore. Even in the ‘80s if you changed the oil once in awhile you could get most cars to 200,000. I did it with a Bonneville and an ‘89 Riviera (that one made it into the era of the early camera phones, so I even have the picture). My uncle did it with an Iron Duke Pontiac 6000. My dad did it with…