I have owned two Subarus and each time I have been perplexed by how passionate fellow Subaru owners have been.
When my wife said she loved everything about my new Subaru (at a kayaking outing with a lotta Subaru people) except the high pitched engine sound, other Subaru owners reacted very “strongly” saying that was the distinctive Subaru sound. “Do you also complain that [some type of beer] is bitter?”
My wife said it was like she had criticized Coke in Atlanta.
Well, they moved back to a Mercedes.
In line with the hidden features discussion - we have a Toyota 2019 Corolla. The radio/entertainment system is touch screen. I can’t believe that GPS isn’t included as standard equipment. Its in every phone, for goods sake! I suspect its in there but not activated. Could I be right?
Certainly. But I’m inclined to think it’s an app that needs to be downloaded by the dealer. That way, they can control the pricing.
Maybe. If true, that’s the equivalent of charging extra to turn on a clock app or something, in my opinion.
Why, yes, it is.
Last chance for some kick ass Mopar muscle.
Just a comment on the car pictured in the link- Lexus cars have really ugly grilles. They look like a giant Kirby vacuuming up the road, or an obese woman in a hoop skirt.
Unfortunately, many manufacturers have jumped on the ugly/aggressive front fascia bandwagon.
While I’m griping- a return to happy colors on cars is woefully needed. I saw a Dodge Charger in a shade of gray that matched a pair of Hush Puppies I wore in third grade. Why would someone want a car the color of penitentiary walls?
Sorry, unless my car is reporting my speed in real time to a cop car waiting up ahead to pull me over, it’s not worth turning into a sour old curmudgeon.
Don’t be sorry. We all make choices. I’m just informing.
And hey, get off my lawn! 
Okay, a while ago I realized I was nearly out of gas; it was late at night and there were unlikely to be fuel stations open, but I did have access to a can of laquer thinner (volatile stuff, not like turpentine) so I shrugged and put that in the tank. And got home, and never had problems with the car afterwards.
So, was this a bad idea?
Yes, that was a very bad idea. Acetone is a solvent. It will eat away many kinds of rubber and plastics such as some fuel lines and the gaskets in your engine. It will strip oils and lubricants off of surfaces that need lubrication, etc.
Some peoole have claimed that adding acetone to your gas will improve gas mileage. There is no evidence for this. There is, however plenty of evidence that using it for this purpose is a bad idea.
My guess is that you had enough reserve gasoline to get home anyway, so the acetone did nothing, And if you filled your car with gas soon after, a small can of acetone probably didn’t hurt much. But it didn’t help, and if you keep trying it you could easily damage your engine, fuel system, etc.
::Rambly thesis-length MPSIMS post warning::
I’ve mentioned before that my daily driver is a 2020 Civic Sport trim sedan. Before I purchased this car I’ve always driven old used cars in varying degrees of ugliness and unreliability. Since I have a 70 mile round-trip commute through the mountains I finally decided I needed something that 1) was supremely reliable, 2) got excellent gas mileage, and 3) could handle a serpentine mountain road with no issue. For (3) I wanted a manual transmission, which limited my options severely. The Civic, a Sport trim, was really the only car I could get locally that met all the requirements. I signed the papers on it 2 days before Christmas 2019. I’ve done every bit of scheduled and recommended maintenance on it and kept all the records – even keeping all fuel receipts (for which I have recieved much ribbing for, but this is the first new car I’ve bought and I’m OCD to begin with, so whatever. I like to have a paper trail 
)
The Civic has its downsides. It doesn’t have lumbar support, the stereo is weak, and it doesn’t have variable intermittent windshield wipers – a disadvantage here in the rainforest of the PNW – and the trunk is small.
It’s also very low to the ground.
My first choice when I was car shopping was a Kia Soul but there were a couple of problems. First, they were butt-ugly. It looked like the bastard child of a Pontiac Aztec and a VW Thing. Whoever designed the front end was clearly not part of the same team that designed the rear end. I’m not one to pay much attention to the appearance of a vehicle – as I said I’ve driven plenty of ugly cars (1986 Chrysler LeBaron, 1989 Toyota van), but those Souls were so fugly that I couldn’t help but cringe. Second, the manual transmission option was only available on the base trim, on which such niceties as cruise control and arm rests were absent. So I went with the Civic and have been driving it problem-free ever since.
Fast forward to this weekend. My wife and I were running errands and she made some comment about how I better not need to drive to work in the snow this winter. I have a ~35 mile one-way commute and 90% of that drive is through the mountains. We don’t get snow regularly but it isn’t exactly unknown. Anyway, I asked my wife why snow would be an issue. She drives a GMC Terrain that has full-time AWD and if I needed to commute in snow we’d simply swap cars. She knows how to drive a manual.
Well… no. She told me that sometimes her knees hurt her to the point that its difficult to get in and out of the Civic. I know she has chronic knee pain but never knew that it gave her that much trouble getting in and out of the car. It was a shocker for sure. She never said anything before about it. Knowing her as well as I do it’s been a problem for a while she just hasn’t said anything.
So now I’m debating trading the Civic for… well, I still like Souls. A manual transmission is no longer an option at all, so maybe I can get one with the lumbar support and variable intermittent windshield wipers that I’ve been jonesing for at the cost of accepting a CVT. Having a remote start, heated seats, and a sunroof would be nice too (although I worry about the sunroof leaking in this climate). Clearly it would significantly more comfortable for my wife.The worst part of this decision is I do not want to go back to having a car payment. I paid the Civic off this past summer, dropping $16K early to get the title. According to NADA and KBB the Civic, with 40K miles on it, has a trade-in value of about $23K (which is significantly more than I paid for it). That number will only go down. The Soul has an MSRP of, depending on trim, $23-25K but I’m sure the out-the-door shopping bag price would be much higher due to the continuing shortage of new cars.
We also have a 1990 Mercedes 300E that’s perfectly capable and willing to be a daily driver but tends to live in the garage because while its a beautiful car that’s been meticulously maintained and kept in good repair it isn’t a comfortable car by any stretch of the imagination. It lacks some features like cup holders, adjustable dashboard lights, and a tilt steering wheel – things that are so ubiquitous today that not having them feels like I’m being cheated (it has an electric telescoping steering column though. Go figure) Plus, it, like the Civic, is pretty low to the ground. It has the 4Matic AWD transmission so I could drive it to work on potentially snowy days, but an hour in it is more uncomfortable than the Civic – but it does have heated seats!
I asked my wife point-blank if I should seriously look into getting something else, something that she would comfortable driving, and she downplayed her knee problems and told me not to worry about it. This, of course, was a day after telling me she doesn’t want to be in a situation where she has to drive the Civic or the 300E. She’s half British so I suspect this is just her stiff-upper-lip DNA showing itself.
Yeah, first-world problems. But still. Sigh, what to do…
IMO, you’ve made wise decisions regarding which cars to buy, and what features fit your needs. Your needs have changed (knee pain) so it’s time to change cars. The Civic and especially the Benz are depreciating assets. It’s a great time to sell used cars, but the crazy resale values won’t be here forever. Sell both of them.
I like the Kia Soul. They’re not sexy, but I don’t find them as ugly as you do. They’re reliable, super practical, and have a great warranty.
Have you considered the Mazda CX-30?
If you prefer to keep the Civic, then set a of good snow tires will help with the winter driving.
Of course, that doesn’t change the ground clearance. Snow tires will help with plowed roads, packed snow, and a some ice. They will not help with 8 inches of icy, crusty snow, where you have to break tracks.
The 300E was my grandparents’ car and I’m too attached to it to sell it right now. Maybe someday.
The 2023 Souls have received a facelift so don’t have that VW Thing look anymore:
Compared to the pre-facelift models:
I agree that the new ones aren’t nearly as ugly.
I haven’t before today, but I’ll certainly do some research. Thanks for the tip.
There’s also the Kia Seltos which appears to be a similar compact crossover. I’ve been considering that one as well.
Is there any data on what the average percentage over MSRP SUV’s and crossovers are going for these days? I’ve heard anecdotally that some vehicles that are in high demand, like the new Bronco, are leaving the lot for something like 2x the MSRP.
I think it might be a bit pricier than he’s looking for but I am very pleased with the reliability of my Mazda CX-5. I do recommend switching the tires to Michelins though.
Yeah, the Mazda is a step up in features and cost.
What do the Michelins have that the stock tires didn’t?